Hello! I'm new to this forum but not new to houseplants. :D I'm posting here to share some exciting news - I have been appointed international cultivar registration authority for the tradescantia genus!

That basically means my job is to keep track of alllll the cultivar names that are ever used in the entire genus, in the entire world. Previously there's been no-one doing that, which is part of the reason that cultivar names and identities are such a mess now. 😅

There are two sides to the new job:
1. Clearing up historic cultivar names through research. This has already been in progress for some time, and it's still ongoing. But when it's finished, eventually I will have a definitive checklist of the correct names of all known cultivars from history - freely and publicly available for everyone to refer to.
2. Registering new cultivar names. This means that when someone makes a new type of tradescantia plant, they can register it with me for free, and I will formally publish and establish it, so it will be permanently recorded in the checklist.

There's lots more information on my website at tradescantia(dot)uk for anyone interested.
If you have any questions about the ICRA process, or the work I'm doing, feel free to ask, I would love to help. 🙂

Averixus to garden.org

Congratulations on being appointed the international cultivar registration authority for the Tradescantia genus!

Hi & welcome! That sounds like an enormous task! Just the "spiderworts" alone would be daunting.

How is this going?

Too much work to even pop back by this discussion.

Just too much suspense waiting for the next bit of info.

@Averixus I hope all is going well.

Are you able to explain if these are actual cultivars, or just the common names being confused as cultivar names?
Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea')


And how one identifies this cultivar, what is the distinguishing feature?:
Tradescantia pallida 'Kartuz Giant'

Is this just T. pallida species in lower light?:
Tradescantia pallida 'Blue Sue'

Is this a Callisia?:

Just looking at your website. Seems like after every article, you are asking for donations, or offering plants for sale on Etsy. Is this really a job that you have? Or is it an independent business that you are running? Just curious.

Curiosity remains, especially about the alleged cultivars of T. pallida. Are there any examples of the species next to the cultivars?

Sorry for the delayed response! I think I expected to get an email notification about replies and so I forgot to log back in and actually check.

The full checklist was published online in September 2022, you can view it all for free at https://tradescantia.uk/checkl.... There is a page for every single cultivar name I've found in use (about 460!). Each entry explains whether it's a unique name for a real cultivar, or a synonym/trade name that refers to another plant. And for each unique cultivar (about 260) there is information about its origins, description, and photos wherever possible.

purpleinopp said: @Averixus I hope all is going well.

Are you able to explain if these are actual cultivars, or just the common names being confused as cultivar names?
Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea')

They are a cultivar, but they're the *same* cultivar! The correct name is T. pallida 'Purpurea', but it's sold with various other trade names including purple heart, purple queen, purple passion, and others. Here's the cultivar checklist page: https://tradescantia.uk/cultiv....

And how one identifies this cultivar, what is the distinguishing feature?:
Tradescantia pallida 'Kartuz Giant'

Unfortunately the picture on that page is wrong - it shows the more common 'Purpurea' cultivar from above. The distinguishing feature of true 'Kartuz Giant' is that it has extremely wide leaves - almost as wide as they are long, to the point that they become pleated where they meet the stem. Here's the checklist page which has some photos: https://tradescantia.uk/cultiv....

Is this just T. pallida species in lower light?:
Tradescantia pallida 'Blue Sue'

No, this is another cultivar too. Its appearance does change in different light levels (like pretty much all tradescantias), but in ideal conditions it is dusty blue with just a hint of purple - much paler than 'Purpurea'. Both 'Blue Sue' and 'Purpurea' originated as wild collections of the species, but they have their own unique distinguishable traits so they are different cultivars. (the checklist page again with more photos: https://tradescantia.uk/cultiv...)

Is this a Callisia?:

• Tradescantia pallida 'Ocampo White'
• Uploaded by Rica47

Not a Callisia, another distinct cultivar of T. pallida. In this case the most unique feature is that its flowers are pure white, rather than pink like most others of the species. More photos on the checklist page again: https://tradescantia.uk/cultiv...

Hope that all helps!

rosebuddy2 said: Just looking at your website. Seems like after every article, you are asking for donations, or offering plants for sale on Etsy. Is this really a job that you have? Or is it an independent business that you are running? Just curious.

I'm pretty sure I have one single donate link in the footer of the website, so that may be why you think I'm writing it after every article? 😅 Being ICRA is an official position, managed by the International Society for Horticultural Science (here's their page about ICRAs: https://www.ishs.org/nomenclat...). But it's not a *paid* position, so I sell plants and accept donations to help fund my work and research.

Thank you so much for your follow-up responses! You could probably tell that I was skeptical but you seem legitimate and the info and efforts are very much appreciated. If you are able to share some or all of your pics with the plant database on this site, they would be a great asset.

I'm not sure who on this site handles that area of the database, but @zuzu should know. It sounds like some of the pics should be moved, and those 2 cultivars merged into one.

Thank you, Tiffany and Averixus. I'll make these changes later today.

Thank you very much, Zuzu! : )

Thank you! I completely respect the skepticism too, and I'm glad that my work is enough to convince you I'm definitely planning to add some images and suggest some other changes to the database here as soon as I get the chance.

Wonderful! It's maddening to study pics that look identical, trying to see a difference. Thank you.

This is a fun thread.
@Averixus , this is AMAZING work! I might consider purchasing from your shop.
According to your website this entry should actually be Tradescantia 'EC-TRADE-2011', right?
Tradescantia (Continental Group) (Tradescantia Feeling Flirty™)

Again, thank you for your wonderful tradescantia work.

@zuzu did you finish the tradescantia genus updates?

Sedumzz, this was some time ago and I've worked on dozens of genera since then, so I don't remember whether I had to update the species. I did make the changes requested in the thread. For example, I moved some photos from 'Kartuz Giant' to 'Purpurea.' The remaining images belong in the entry.

sedumzz said: This is a fun thread.
@Averixus , this is AMAZING work! I might consider purchasing from your shop.
According to your website this entry should actually be Tradescantia 'EC-TRADE-2011', right?
Tradescantia (Continental Group) (Tradescantia Feeling Flirty™)

Again, thank you for your wonderful tradescantia work.

Thank you!

And yes that's right, Feeling Flirty is a trade name for 'EC-TRADE-2011'. Sweetness is another trade name often used for the same plant.

Hi @Averixus - I picked up this cutting at a plant swap with no ID. Similar to the above 'Feeling Flirtyc as well as 'Nanouk' but I can't tell for sure.

Leaf uppers are bright white with soft green markings. The undersides are bright pink. In sunlight the pink shows through (or reflects) and makes the uppers look pink, but they really are white. Very pretty. No flowers to show yet.

Any chance of an ID?

NMoasis said: Hi @Averixus - I picked up this cutting at a plant swap with no ID. Similar to the above 'Feeling Flirtyc as well as 'Nanouk' but I can't tell for sure.

Leaf uppers are bright white with soft green markings. The undersides are bright pink. In sunlight the pink shows through (or reflects) and makes the uppers look pink, but they really are white. Very pretty. No flowers to show yet.

Any chance of an ID?

That's classic 'Nanouk'