Cultivar

From BonsaiWIKI

A cultivar (from cultivated variety) is a named selection of a particular species of plant selected in cultivation, and not botanically distinct from the normal species in the wild. Cultivars might have variegated foliage, dwarf size, unique flowers, or a horizontal growth habit, among other possibilities. Dozens of cultivars of Japanese Maple and Satsuki Azalea, for example, are known.

A cultivar is clonally propagated, by cuttings or grafting, so that all individuals of a named cultivar are genetically identical. Plants grown from seeds collected from a cultivar are not the same as the parent cultivar, and cannot carry the same cultivar name.

Unlike botanical names, cultivar names are given in normal type (not italics), with the first letter capitalised, and the name in single quote marks. Before 1950, cultivar names could be (and often were) in Latin form, but cultivars named after 1950 must take a name in a modern language, not Latin.

Examples:

• An old, latinised cultivar name: Taxus baccata 'Aurea'
• A cultivar name in a modern language (here Japanese): Juniperus chinensis 'Shimpaku'