PDB:Should I add a Cultivar of existing species seperately?

Here is the cultivar I have -
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Salvia
Species: microphylla
Cultivar: ‘Hot Lips’

Here is the existing PDB entry:
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Salvia (SAL-vee-uh) (Info)
Species: microphylla (my-kro-FIL-uh) (Info)

Yes, add a new entry for each cultivar. This way we keep each cultivar characteristics separate and easily browsable.

The current database entry is:

Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia
Species: microdasys

The first photo is definitely an Opuntia microdasys var. albispina. Some of the others are Opuntia microdasys but the variety is not noted. I have a photo of an Opuntia microdasys var. albispina. Should I "add a new plant" as:

Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia
Species: microdasys var. albispina

then add the photo? Or do I just upload the photo to the current entry and note the variety on the photo's comments.

The reason I am asking is because I added a new entry (added a new plant) for a plant the other day so that the cultivar would have its own entry. Because some of the bloom photos appear to be the same plant (and some of them are) on the entry that was already there, I was nicely asked about it. Some cultivars (and varieties) may have a bloom that looks the same, but the size of the bloom and the number of blooms, the frequency of bloom periods, the size of the plant, the cold hardiness, drought tolerance, etc. may be different. I always like to see the cultivars and/or varieties listed separately so that the description of the plant really matches the plant to which I am uploading a photo. There are quite a few photos that I have not added because the genus and species names are there, but with no cultivars. Photos of the cultivar I want to add are mixed in with other cultivars on the entry. If I add a new plant listing with the cultivar then upload the photo, there will be two plant entries having photos of the same cultivar which can be confusing (as happened with the new plant entry I added the other day). If there are no photos of the cultivar I want to add on the already existing entry, there is no problem.

Also... which way is best between these 2 (I have seen entries both ways):

Opuntia microdasys v. albispina
Species: microdasys var. albispina

Thanking you in advance.

This message was edited Dec 21, 2003 10:00 PM

Generally speaking, varieties should have their own entries, similar to cultivars. We generally use "var." as the abbreviation.

Thanks, Terry. I will add the entry and photo.

I don't find Spirea japonica 'Shirobana' in the PDB but found a similar cultivar posted by Hazel. How do I add an entry for this variety? I have two images to submit.

Hi patp -

Go to the main page in the PDB:
http://plantsdatabase.com/

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link to add a new listing (it's right below the comments section):
» Add a new plant to the list
http://plantsdatabase.com/add.php

Hmmm, tried that, now what? Submitted basic info (Family - Rosaceae, Genus - Spiraea, Species - Japonica, Cultivar - Shirobana; Shibori). Response was "This entry already exists in the database, right here: 'Shirobana; Shibori' Spirea Japonica" and I was directed to this page:
http://plantsdatabase.com/go/558/index.htm , not exactly what I expected. Maybe I'm missing the point here. Thanks for your help!

Well I sure can't find the duplicate of what you entered. Here are the S. japonica entries that come up doing a basic search on the S. japonica listings:
http://plantsdatabase.com/search.php?search_text=Spiraea+japonica&submit=Search

(The Spiraea x bumalda comes up in this search because a synonymn of S. japonica is listed on the entry)

I would try again. Did you enter all the data for the new listing before hitting submit?

Also the species is not capitalized.

If it still comes up with a redirect to the incorrect entry, I'd email the PDB editors from the basic S. japonica entry page (the link is in the righthand sidebar "Report an Error"). Either explain what has happened or direct them to this thread and I'm sure they can help you.

This thread:
http://davesgarden.com/t/395103

I entered all except the Common name for the plant before submitting. Oops, Japonica was capitalized. I just submitted error report. Thanks for your comments, Happenstance.

New cultivar was added with help from Baa. My thanks to all.