Tradescantia 'Concorde Grape'

Tradescantia L. Commellinaceae 'Concorde Grape' Distribution: North America. Introduced into Britain between 1616 and 1629 by John Tradescant the Elder (d 1638) and named after him and his son. He was gardener to King Charles I and travelled, collecting plants in Russia, Algiers and Egypt, maintaining a garden and museum in London. The younger John Tradescant (1608-1662), who succeeded his father as gardener to Charles I, collected mostly in America and brought back some 90 new plants. Their museum was the basis of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. They are buried in the churchyard of St Mary's next to Lambeth Palace, London. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.