Botanical Nomenclature F Plants may have many common names F Plants have only one scientific name F Scientific names are universally accepted

Binomial System of Classification F F Invented by the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus in the year 1753 F F The genus comes first and is always capitalized and italicized F F The specific epithet comes after the genus and is always lower case and italicized

The Species F F The genus and specific epithet together form the “binomial” that identifies a species F F Example: Cercis canadensis Eastern Redbud F F A group of individual plants that have a common set of identifiable characteristics that are inheritable F F Species come “true-to-type” from seed

The Variety F F A group of plants subordinate to the species; differing from the species in one or more inheritable characteristics F F Varieties come “true-to-type” from seed F F Written in lower case and italicized F F Two acceptable formats: Cercis canadensis var. alba or Cercis canadensis alba

The Variety Cercis canadensisCercis canadensis var. alba

The Cultivar F F In ornamental horticulture cultivar characteristics are, generally speaking, not inheritable F F Cultivars, generally speaking, do not come “true-to-type” from seed F F Cultivar names are always capitalized and written in single quotations F F Example: Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ has maroon leaves that fade to green

The Cultivar F F A single species may have many cultivars Juniperus horizontalis ‘Blue Chip’ Juniperus horizontalis ‘Plumosa’ Juniperus horizontalis ‘Hughes’ etc. F F It is possible to have a cultivar of a variety Gleditsia triacanthos inermis ‘Skyline’ or Cornus florida rubra ‘Cherokee Chief’

Gleditsia triacanthos

Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis ‘Skyline’

The End