In the May 2016 issue we talked about Linnaeus , who developed the two - name orbinomial classification systemfor plant , which was codified in his treatise , Species Plantarum(1753 ) andSystema Naturae(1758 ) . Of course , the two names that are the foundation garment of the compartmentalization system — genus and coinage — are the winder to a plant ’s identity . But there ’s more to it . This calendar month we will clarify the terms on those tags you receive adhere in the pot of that plant you ’re about to purchase .
If you spot an intriguing plant in a nursery , you ’ll belike take a feel at its tatter . ordinarily , the rag will name the plant by its genus and species ( orspecies epithet , a more technical term for mintage that you ’ll sometimes see in books and articles;not something we ’ll concern about here ) . allow ’s say you ’re look at a boxwood ; it might be labeled asBuxus(genus)microphylla(species),and the tag end may also include its coarse name , littleleaf boxwood . In fact , the Romance term “ microphylla ” means small - leaved . But nothing is ever unsubdivided , correct ? So you ’re often going to see a third name , and maybe even more following the genus and metal money name . For example , you might take a refulgency to a industrial plant whose tag say : Buxus microphyllavar.insularis . Now you ’re dealing with a variety .
What exactly is a variety?Avarietyis asubdivision of a species — signify that some small-scale variation has find — perhaps a difference in gloss or size of it — from the original specie . Avariety is anaturally - occurringvariation of single plant within a species . An instance of a variety is the spineless honeylocust tree , Gleditsia triacanthosvar.inermis . It is a naturally - occurring thornless honeylocust . Sometimes the difference between a variety and a species is a dispute in flower coloration . The distinctive white - flowered dogwood we see in Virginia is the mintage , Cornus florida . There ’s a by nature - occur pink - flower adaptation , cornus floridavar.rubra .
Most variety will produce seeds that are true to type , which means that the seedlings grown from avarietywill also have the same alone characteristic of the parent industrial plant . For model , there is a white - bloom redbud that was find in nature . Its scientific name isCercis canadensisvar.alba . The varietal terminal figure “ alba ” mean white . If you were to pullulate semen from this smorgasbord , most , if not all , would also be blanched - flowering .
Oh , and just to make things a little more complicated , sometimes scientists decide to re - classify a plant establish on a raw agreement of its kinship to other plants . That has happened toB. microphyllavar . insularis , which has been reclassify by some authority asB. sinicavar.insularis .
desire to go a piffling deeper?If so , you might require to expect atanother subdivision below the species level : subspecies . This terminal figure is not often found in catalogs or plant rag , but just so you know , the term race is also used to describe a subgroup of a metal money . Usually , the parole subspecies is used to key a natural universe of plants with a variation from the species that is found in a particular geographic distribution or ecological cooking stove . A race that you ’ll often observe in the nursery trade isHydrangea anomalassp.petiolaris .
Suppose you ’re wandering the aisles of a nursery and you discover a blush wine with this name on the label : Rosa ‘ Blaze Improved ‘ ( ‘ Paul ’s Scarlet Climber ’ x ‘ Gruss an Teplitz ’ ) . Now that ’s a mouthful . Butthe key pointisthat little times signtellingyou that this arise is a loanblend .
cross : is a transmitted cross between two unlike mintage and can be the outcome of a series of interbreeding between parent . Hybrids may also occur between different genus , race , varieties and cultivars . The materialisation of a cross can be fertile , partially fertile or all sterile ( if a horse breeds with a donkey , the result is a mule which is almost always sterile).Usually , the offspring of a hybrid will not be true to type .
A plant that results from cross upbringing — a loan-blend — is identified with anx in its name . So that rise with the mouthful of a name is a cross between ‘ Paul ’s Scarlet Climber ’ and ‘ Gruss an Teplitz ’ . So just by read the label , you may see the family history behind your rose , though sometimes you ’ll just see something dewy-eyed , like Rosa x ‘ Blaze Improved ’ .
loan-blend sometimes occur naturally , but more commonly , they are the result of human efforts . The aim of a human hybridizer is to produce plants with desirable characteristics that can be sold commercially . If the crossbreeding yields successful results , the flora is usually devote a cultivar name and you ’ll start to see it in nurseries and plant life catalogue . So , a successfulhybrid is also a cultivar . For representative , Meserve Holly hybrid were in the beginning engender by Mrs. Leighton Meserve of New York by using two mintage , Ilex rugosa(prostrate holly , a lowly and spread shrub holly , for cold hardiness ) andIlex aquifolium(English holly , a large Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree holly , for foliage and Chuck Berry beauty ) . You ’ll see a number of popular Meserve hybrids in most nurseries , includingIlexxmeserveae‘Blue Boy ’ & ‘ Blue Girl ’ .
If you ’re a vegetable gardener interested in seed - delivery , it ’s crucial to make love whether you ’re dealing with a hybrid . That ’s because a intercrossed plant life is NOT a good candidate for source - saving : when you plant the seeds you saved from a crossbreed , you cease up with a random mixture of traits from the grandparent plants and early generations . In other words , the source are not true to typecast . Now there are plenty of benefits to the newer hybrid vegetable seeds : they ’ve often been bred for disease - resistance , and often have so - called “ hybrid vigor ” — stronger growth , high yield , and even higher endurance from the seedling stage . But if you want to make unnecessary germ from the vegetables you grow , you ’ll need open - pollenate and heirloom variety , which will allow you to savetrue - to - type seed .
And vegetable gardeners will also want to know about the terminal figure “ F1 hybrid ” — a full term you ’ll often find in seed catalogue and on seed mail boat . In fact , the terms “ hybrid ” and “ F1 ” arestrictly defined in the source industry . intercrossed seedsare produced through controlled pollination , which can be a long , expensive process . A seed company select parent varieties that will produce first generation offspring — F1 cross — with the extra characteristic they desire . But the seeds of the next generation will usuallynotbe on-key to type .
Now allow ’s go back to the greenhouse . Or possibly you ’re spending a snowy day poring over flora catalogs . You come to a boxwood identified asBuxus microphyllavar.japonica‘Green Beauty . ” Well , you ’ve happen upon a cultivar ( and by the way , it ’s a pretty special cultivar because it ’s somewhat resistant to the direful box blight that ’s running amuck in our gardens these mean solar day ; see Sources below ) .
Cultivar : A cultivar is a poor boy - pigeonholing of a species and it is ordinarily ( but not always ) the result of selective breeding by human , The term cultivar is a combination of the wordscultivatedandvariety . Most cultivars are measured hybridsof two plant , as we talked about above . To distribute reliable - to - type clone , many cultivar must be propagatedvegetativelythrough cuttings , graft , and even weave culture . generation by seed normally produces something unlike than the parent industrial plant , and this is animportant difference between a variety and a cultivar .
Some cultivars originated as “ variation ” or mutations that were expose in the wild . A “ summercater ” is a naturally occurring genetic mutation that causes a sudden change in the coming into court of a works . Imagine that you ’re walking in the wood and you find a native Pinxterbloom azalea , Azalea periclymenoides — the one with those beautiful pinkish flowers . But the blooms on the one you encounter are an exceptionally large size . In fact , it ’s so unequaled that you just might make up one’s mind to take a cutting , and you take that cut home and plant it . Voila ! Your cutting takes hold and produces those unambiguously turgid blossoms . The next thing you do it , you ’re diffuse more of these special plants via cuttings . Finally , you make up one’s mind to give it a name — perhapsA. periclymenoides‘Macroflora ’ . Why those single credit marks around the name ? Well , that ’s the convention that ’s come in the industrial plant terminology Earth to indicate a cultivar .
The cultivar name is always written with single mention mark . In expert writing , the cultivar name follows the genus and species and is always capitalize and write inside single acknowledgment marks , but not italicise or emphasise . For model , October Glory Red Maple is formally known asAcer rubrum‘October Glory ’ . And in case you were marvel , it is potential to have a cultivar of a variety . For example , Cornus floridavar.rubra‘Cherokee Chief ’ .
Right now there seems to be a push for aboriginal with different characteristics . You might wonder if some of these plants are truly native ! You might even experience that some of these new cultivar of imperial coneflower are beginning to look a morsel Frankenstein - ish .
But it just might have come naturally . You might weave into a meadow and detect one purple coneflower out of 1000 that has triple quarrel of petals . You could call itEchinacea purpurea‘Frankenflora ’ . You now have a cultivar , but you could also call ita selectionas well , which is often used with natives ; you’re able to separate it , but if you uprise it from seed , probability are very high that the seedlings will be the typical purple coneflower with one row of petal .
These dayscultivars are planted and used much more than varieties . But the terms are often confused . You’re likely to hear a industrial plant consult to as a change instead of what it in reality is : a cultivar . I ’ll let you mull this over . A salutary rootage for clarify this smorgasbord / cultivar mish - mash isBotany for Gardenersby Brian Capon . Several more first-class source are listed below .
Key thing to commemorate :
SOURCES :
Botany for Gardeners(Brian Capon , Timber Press , 3rd ed . 2010 )
“ Cultivar versus Variety,”Iowa State Hort . News(ISU Entomology , Horticulture and Home Pest News 2008 )
“ Plant Names : A Guide for Horticulturists , Nurserymen , Gardeners and Students,”www.hortax.org.uk(Horticultural Taxonomy Group , Version 1 , March 2007 )
“ Cultivar versus Variety,”www.ipm.iastate.edu / ipm / hortnews/2008/2 - 6 / CultivarOrVariety.html
“ Ilex x meserveae , ” Ohio State University , hvp.osu.edu / pocketgardener
“ Frequently Asked Questions : What ’s the difference between “ crossbreed ” and “ cultivars”?http://anpsa.org.au / faq-9.html(Australian Native Plants Society ) .
“ How are hybrid and open - pollinate vegetables dissimilar ? ” Oregon St. Extension , extension.oregonstate.edu / garden
“ Variety , cultivar , hybrid , heirloom … what term mean , ” Univ . Nebraska Extension , https://huskerhort.com/2025-03-10 / variety - cultivar - hybrid - heirloom - what - term - mean/
“ Selecting Landscape Plants : Boxwoods,”https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426 - 603/426 - 603_pdf.pdf
“ Best Management Practices for Boxwood Blight in the Virginia Home Landscape,”https://pubs.ext.vt.edu / PPWS / PPWS-29 / PPWS-29 - pdf.pdf . ( some boxwood cultivars are much less susceptible to Turkish boxwood blight disease than others . This article curb a helpful chart show up the degree of susceptibility of a number of popular cultivars ) .
