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Tradescantia sillamontana
The plant likes a sunny habitat or partial shade.
Can be watered as a classic houseplant.
It can cope with temperatures down to -1.1 °C in the short term. However, the plant is not hardy.
It gets its name from the mexican mountain where it grows wild. The white hairs all over the plant allow it to cope well with the local natural conditions.
Tradescantia sillamontana, also known as White Velvet or Cobweb Spiderwort, is native to the Nuevo Leon Mountains in northern Mexico. It gets its name from the Cerro de la Silla mountain where it grows in the wild.
The plant is covered with a thick layer of relatively long, white hairs. The leaves underneath are dull olive green to grey-green in colour and can turn purplish red when exposed to direct sunlight. The undersides of the leaves often turn purple and the leaves grow up to 5 cm long and 7.5 cm wide. The stems are densely branched, growing up to 40 cm and often rooting where they touch the soil.
The flowers turn bright purple-pink. They bloom in summer at the tops of the stems or in the axils of the bracts.
The succulent likes moist but well-drained and acidic soil. Diffused light is ideal, but full sun is fine as long as the soil remains moist. It can be fertilised with cactus and succulent fertiliser or houseplant fertiliser. The succulent houseplant impresses especially with its striking flowers and very decorative white hairs all over the plant.