 By 1998, Fadden listed 70 species, while currently The Plant List accepts 75.The name of the genus by Carl Linnaeus honours the English naturalists and explorers John Tradescant the Elder (c. 1570s – 1638) and John Tradescant the Younger (1608–1662), who introduced many new plants to English gardens.Tradescant the Younger mounted three expeditions to the New World colony of Virginia.