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Callisia fragrans f. 'Purple Leaf' - Calandstr, Leiden, NL 1 Apr 2010 04 Leo
Callisia fragrans f. 'Purple Leaf' - Calandstr, Leiden, NL 1 Apr 2010 04 Leo

English: Basketplant, Fragrant Inch Plant, Spironema, False Bromeliad, Octopus Plant (USA), Grandpa's Pipe (USA), Purple Succulent (Australia), Golden Tendril (possibly not a real common name, but made up by a website for marketing purposes), Russian Holistic Medicinal Plant (probably not a real common name, but made up by a website for marketing purposes)
Portuguese (Brazil): Dragãozinho, Espironema
Russian: Золотой Ус

Unlike species of Tradescantia, this species has fragrant blooms.

To the right of the photograph you can see a 'stick' sticking out. This is actually a stolon, with which the plant normally propagates. As such, this plant is best grown as a hanging plant indoors, so all the stolons hang around it. In warmer climates it makes a good groundcover.

It was once much more common in cultivation than it is today. It now quite rare in most of Europe, this purple form even more so, but it is more common as a houseplant in Russia, where the juice from the leaves is apparently often used as a home remedy against cuts and bruises (i.e., a holistic antiseptic). In Australia it is seen as a weed and invasive species. In Florida there is a company which has the audacity to ask $20.= for this plant! In Brazil it is often grown as groundcover, the same size plant here can cost only 0.50 real (about $0.28, or €0.22). The reason the guys from Florida think they can sell the plant for this price is this 2008 Russian study: www.springerlink.com/content/cg642237u6w36m36/

On Infraspecific Variation: I also have the normal green-leafed form, but a snail seems to have discovered it last week and it's not looking too hot right now. There is also a variegated form (in Australia and Florida, in any case).

On Native Distribution: Dry tropical lowlands of the Gulf Coast of eastern Mexico (Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan).
On Modern Distribution: naturalized in some areas of Australia
Origin: This plant was grown from a cutting from a plant grown from a cutting of a plant in the collection of one Alain Geoffries Lugoire of France. However, I am not sure about the spelling of 'Lugoire', I couldn't understand it properly and I ran out of paper when making notes and can't read the tiny letters I wrote.

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Taken on: April 1, 2010
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Mexico Mexico
Sets appears in:   • Commelinaceae   
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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 75, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, 5.8mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 75
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length: 5.8mm
ISO: 80
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
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Callisia fragrans f. 'Purple Leaf' - Calandstr, Leiden, NL 1 Apr 2010 04 Leo

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