Plant Labeling

I'm making a photo catalog of the various plants growing on our condo premises. I would like to know how to correctly label a plant when I only know its Genus. For example, in such case would Liriope sp. be correct ? If I know the species but not the cultivar would Liriope muscari 'CV' be correct ?

Oh, that's a good question. I'm not sure. Let's see if we can't get some more informed folks here to answer this.

Hello pinetreesa (I like your id name),

My American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants lists 6 items to consider for plant classification and nomenclature. They are:

1) Family - group of one or more genera that share a set of underlying features. Family names end in -aceae. The limits of families are often controversial and unclear.

2) Genus (pl. genera) - group of one or more plants that share a wide range of characteristics. Names are printed in italic type aieh an intioal capital letter. Hybrid genera are denoted by a multiplication sign before the genus.

3) Species - group of plants that are capable of breeding together to produce offspring similar to themselves. Species are given a two-part name, or binomial, printed in italic type: the first part, with an initial capital letter, is the genus; the second part is the species epithet, which distinguishes it from other species in the genus.

4) Subspecies - naturally occurring, distinct variant of a species, often an isolated population. Indicated by "subsp." in roman type, followed by the subspecific epithet in italic type.

5) Varietas (variety) and forma (form) - minor subdivisions of a species, differing slightly in their botanical structure. Indicated by "var."or "f." in roman type, followed by the variety or form epithets in italic type.

6) Cultivars - selected or artificially raised, distinct variants of species, subspecies, varietas, forma, or hybrids. Denoted by a vernaular name in roman type within single quotation marks, e.g. Calluna vulgaris 'Firefly'. If the parentage is obscure or complex, the vernacular name may directly follow the generic name, e.g. Rosa 'Goldfinch'.

This is a lot of info pinetreesa, and I hope you can use at least some of it to help you come up with the proper labeling for your photo catalog of plants.

TC...

From pinetreesa to smilin32 and to tcfromky. Thanks a lot for your replies.

The proper (as far as I know) way to describe a plant that only the genus is known is "Genus spp."

In the example you gave, it would be written as:

Liriope spp.

which indicates it has more than one species and the species of your plant is unknown.

Good info, Terry! For some reason, I've thought spp. was subspecies, but that would be ssp, I suppose!

Exactly ;o) - tricky little abbreviations, aren't they?

Well, you've opened up a whole new world of gray area identification, Terry.... I really needed it, since Baa won't let me use the term 'x hybrida' anymore! LOL!

You know, starting a thread or threads on basic botanical terms might be really helpful. I know it's a big subject, and I know the issue is probably addressed elsewhere, but sometimes questions and answers are the most informative.

True, WZ. Maybe when the dust settles a bit from the new format ;o)

Pinetreesa, the second part of your question is still hanging out there unanswered. I don't believe the use of "cv" will substitute for the known cultivar name.

Up to this point, we have steered our users toward one of two actions when the cultivar is uknown:

a) place the image within the species entry (that sound you hear is the collective horrified gasp from the entire scientific world); or

b) don't add it to the PDB if it's an unknown seedling or the cultivar name has been lost.

As the PDB as grown, we've leaned heavily toward the second option, as cold-hearted as it sounds. But in fairness to the readers who look to us for good ID information and pictures, we have to guard against a "free-for-all" atmosphere in the PDB.

If an image isn't acceptable within the PDB, don't be discouraged - place it in your own journal! After all, it is of your plant, and you can still share it with the world if you make your journal "public" ;o)

You're very welcome pinetreesa.

Wgreens you said, "You know, starting a thread or threads on basic botanical terms might be really helpful."

Let me know when you start one or two, that's a great idea and I for one would benefit from it!

Terry, why would the scientific world "gasp in horror" if the photo of the named plant is placed "within the species entry"? If the cultivar is known, wouldn't that be where the image belongs? And isn't that the only place you can post a photo to in the PDB? (I hope you understand my question)

TC...

Please, oh please do a basic botanical primer. It could even become a FAQ on the botanary.

TC, that's a good question. Bear in mind that when plants are culitvated/hybridized, they can vary quite a bit from the species. (In fact, you'll often see a plant description that says "better blooms (or taller or shorter or hardier, etc.) than the species."

So an unknown/unnamed cultivar or seedling from a cultivar (for example) might be different from the species itself, which is why the scientific community would frown on our past practices of allowing such images to be submitted under the species - and why we've migrated toward a firmer stance as the PDB continues to grow.

Thanks for answering my question Terry. This brings to mind an article I read about heirloom plants and seeds. It said that with so many new plants being cultivated and hybridized, there's much concern within the gardening community that we could eventually be without parentage for what we grow. I think that's a scary thought. :~o

TC...

A new thread on Botanical terms sounds like a great idea. I certainly need help in the pronounciation of just about all the Latin terminology. Perhaps a guide to the correct pronounciation would be of help and included too. I often sound like a babbling idiot while walking through a nursery.

nadabigfarm, check out the Botanary tab above for information and pronunciation help on over 13,000 family, genus and species names ;o)

Thank you smilin32, tcfromky, Terry, Weezing greens, daisyavenue and nadabigfarm for solving my problem. I can now close this thread.