All the tradescantias that I have were bought as sprig from private persons. But why if there are so many different cultivars in shops/florists? Well, not really. While browsing a few of the most popular online florists in Poland, I found only a dozen available cultivars of tradescantia:
- Callisia gentlei var. elegans,
- Callisia repens 'Pink Panther',
- Cyanotis ciliata,
- Cyanotis somaliensis,
- Tradescantia 'Albovittata Quicksilver',
- Tradescantia cerinthoides 'Lilac',
- Tradescantia fluminensis 'Yellow Hill',
- Tradescantia mundula variegated,
- Tradescantia pallida 'Purple Heart',
- Tradescantia spathacea,
- Tradescantia spathacea 'Tricolor',
- Tradescantia sillamontana,
- Tradescantia zebrina 'Burgundy',
- Tradescantia zebrina 'Silver Plus'.
What about cultivars like 'Paars Joy', 'Purple Passion', 'Pink Joy' or 'Violet Hill'?
Such cultivar names do not exist! These are only the common names of the other (previously mentioned) tradescantias. It even happens that sellers sell the same cultivar under several different names or several cultivars under one common name. For this reason, I attach great importance to the correct cultivar names.
Several times I have been asked if 'Burgundy' is the same as 'Purple Passion'. Common names and cultivar names cannot be compared with each other. Common names are often invented by the producers (possibly to increase sales) and stores/florists do not check this. See for yourself on the photos below.
Some time ago, Tradescantia fluminensis 'Quadricolor'. became very popular in stores (mainly on the Allegro platform, but not only). Unfortunately, this is another scam of the manufacturers. Tradescantia mundula variegated (known as the tradescantia tricolor) is sold under this name. There is no such cultivar as Tradescantia fluminensis 'Quadricolor' and the only known Quadricolor is Tradescantia zebrina 'Quadricolor' (which is currently only available for purchase from private persons). Unfortunately, many people bought it thinking that they are buying a different cultivar, so it is important that we know what we are buying and not just blindly look at the names. Here are some examples.
