**Concept 1: Cultivar Definition and Naming**
– Cultivar is a cultivated plant selected for desired traits.
– Propagation methods include division, cuttings, grafting, and seed production.
– Most cultivars result from human manipulation.
– Common ornamental cultivars include roses, camellias, and daffodils.
– Agricultural food crops and forestry trees are mostly cultivars.
– Cultivar names consist of a Latin botanical name and a cultivar epithet.
– Legal protection for new cultivars is offered by UPOV.
– Cultivars must be distinct, uniform, and stable for protection.
– Statutory patents and plant breeders’ rights complicate cultivar naming.
– International standards for naming and defining cultivars were established in the 20th century.
**Concept 2: Etymology and Formal Definition**
– Cultivar and cultigen were coined by Liberty Hyde Bailey.
– Cultivar distinguishes between wild and cultivated plants.
– Theophrastus recognized the importance of genetic constitution in plants.
– Linnaeus’ work laid the foundation for modern botanical nomenclature.
– Bailey proposed the term ‘cultivar’ for cultivated plant varieties.
– Cultigens are maintained by continued propagation.
– Cultivars are recognisable and have stable characters.
– Cultigens can be accepted as cultivars if they meet criteria.
– Cultivars are a subset of cultigens.
– The Cultivated Plant Code governs the formal definition of cultivars.
**Concept 3: Cultivar Types and Production Methods**
– Cultivars serve practical needs of horticulture, agriculture, and forestry.
– Clones are genetically identical plants produced asexually.
– Some cultivars retain characteristics when grown from seed.
– Genetically modified plants may form cultivars through deliberate genetic implantation.
– Different propagation methods for cultivars include division, layering, cuttings, grafts, and budding.
– Seed-raised cultivars may result from controlled pollination or hybridization.
– Naming genetically modified cultivars can be challenging due to constant development.
– Changes in ploidy levels can lead to more desirable characteristics in cultivars.
– International regulations govern the nomenclature of genetically modified cultivars.
**Concept 4: Cultivar Registration and Authorities**
– Cultivar names are regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.
– International Cultivar Registration Authorities (ICRAs) aim to prevent duplication of cultivar names within a genus.
– ICRA is appointed by the Commission for Nomenclature and Cultivar Registration.
– ICRAs are formed by societies specializing in specific plant genera.
– New names and data are collected and checked by ICRAs at no cost.
– ICRAs ensure new names are formally established and recorded in hard copy publications.
**Concept 5: Plant Breeding, Intellectual Property Rights, and Ownership**
– Plant breeding aims to increase crop yield, resistance to diseases, and nutritional value.
– Essential for developing new plant varieties with desirable traits.
– Intellectual property rights protect inventions, discoveries, and plant varieties.
– Ownership of nature raises ethical and legal questions about who can claim ownership over plants.
– Cultivar registration ensures unique names for plant varieties to avoid confusion in trade and research.
– Plant breeding plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and agricultural sustainability.
A cultivaris a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, or carefully controlled seed production. Most cultivars arise from deliberate human manipulation, but some originate from wild plants that have distinctive characteristics. Cultivar names are chosen according to rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), and not all cultivated plants qualify as cultivars. Horticulturists generally believe the word cultivar was coined as a term meaning "cultivated variety".
.jpg)
A cultivar selected for its intriguing and colourful flowers
Popular ornamental plants like roses, camellias, daffodils, rhododendrons, and azaleas are commonly cultivars produced by breeding and selection or as sports, for floral colour or size, plant form, or other desirable characteristics. Similarly, the world's agricultural food crops are almost exclusively cultivars that have been selected for characters such as improved yield, flavour, and resistance to disease, and very few wild plants are now used as food sources. Trees used in forestry are also special selections grown for their enhanced quality and yield of timber.
Cultivars form a major part of Liberty Hyde Bailey's broader group, the cultigen, which is defined as a plant whose origin or selection is primarily due to intentional human activity. A cultivar is not the same as a botanical variety, which is a taxonomic rank below subspecies, and there are differences in the rules for creating and using the names of botanical varieties and cultivars. In recent times, the naming of cultivars has been complicated by the use of statutory patents for plants and recognition of plant breeders' rights.
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV – French: Union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales) offers legal protection of plant cultivars to persons or organisations that introduce new cultivars to commerce. UPOV requires that a cultivar be "distinct, uniform", and "stable". To be "distinct", it must have characters that easily distinguish it from any other known cultivar. To be "uniform" and "stable", the cultivar must retain these characters in repeated propagation.
The naming of cultivars is an important aspect of cultivated plant taxonomy, and the correct naming of a cultivar is prescribed by the Rules and Recommendations of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP, commonly denominated the Cultivated Plant Code). A cultivar is given a cultivar name, which consists of the scientific Latin botanical name followed by a cultivar epithet. The cultivar epithet is usually in a vernacular language.