Botanical Nomenclature
Classification of plants is done by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
Scientific (or botanical) plant names may include:
- Genus is a group of species - the species all have fundamental similarities - the first letter of the
- genus is always capitalized
Species is group of plants that are similar and can produce similar offspring - the species is always- written in lower case
Genus and Species are written in italics or underlined.
Cultiver is a cultivated variety and is denoted by cv. or ''
Variety is a natural selection and is denoted var. - a variety is a subgroup of the species with minor, often inconspicuous differences - plants can be bred true to the variety
Hybrid is usually a cross between two different species, done by manipulating pollenation, and is denoted by x
Common names are written in plain text but the first letter of each word is always capitalized.
Examples:
- Ilex vomitoria - genus = Ilex, species = vomitoria
Ilex vomitoria 'Schillings' - the cultivar is named Schillings
Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Burgundy' - this is the red-leafed variety of the Chinese Fringe-flower and is further distinguished by the cultivar Burgundy
Ilex x attenuata - hybrids created by crossing Ilex cassine and Ilex opaca
Ilex x 'Nellie R. Stevens' - thought to be a hybrid between Ilex cornuta and Ilex aquifolium
Abelia x Grandiflora - hybrid between Abelia chinensis and Abelia uniflora - could be written Abelia chinensis x A. uniflora