What is a cultivar?

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cloverman Mobile, AL Aug 20, 2007

What is a cultivar? I like Blue Spruce and when I look at web sites there are several cultivars. What do they mean and what is the importance of knowing the cultivars?
Thanks.

This message was edited Aug 19, 2007 7:17 PM

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Len123 Adrian, MO(Zone 6a) Aug 20, 2007

varieties, colorado blue spruce, hoopsi blue spruce
for example fat albert bluespruce is wider than tall, the hoopsii is a brighter blue.
sometimes certain cultivars are better disease resistant or are prettier or grow better in the south or north.
some cultivars are more drought resistant perhaps.

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ViburnumValley Scott County, KY(Zone 5b) Aug 20, 2007

Hey cloverman:

Have you ever visited the Gardenology section of DavesGarden? Lots of good info there, including some users definitions for the word you are interested in. See here:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/229.html

Cultivar is a cultivated variety of a plant. In blue spruce terms, cultivar is also equivalent to clone. Clone is an exact replica, which means every plant with that name ('Hoopsi', or 'Fat Albert') should be identical.

Cloning a plant to retain identical features means asexual or vegetative propagation. This is usually done by rooting cuttings, budding, or grafting in the case of blue spruce.

If you produce a new plant from seed, you generally are not getting an exact replica, though many strains of annual herbaceous plants are produced this way. Most cultivar or clonal woody plants are not produced from seed.

The importance of knowing the different clones/cultivars is just what Len123 said: these have been given names to separate them from the herd for some specific feature or character that the plant displays.

Since blue spruce (Picea pungens var. glauca) is a generally highly sought-after plant and commands a hefty price tag, growers are always after a new "tag" or "hook" by which to gain customers. So, a "bluer" or "whiter" blue spruce may be what inspires gardeners to be separated from their $$. Maybe a dwarf plant for that small collectors garden, or a weeper to cascade over a wall is just the ticket. There are big ones, tall ones, flat ones, round ones. I think there's even a yellow or albino one lurking out there. PlantFiles lists a couple:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=Picea&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=pungens&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=genus&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

More than you asked for, but just what you need.

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cloverman Mobile, AL Aug 21, 2007

Thank you Len and Viburnum

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