In botanical nomenclature, a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

may be given a hybrid name, which is a special kind of

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Internat ...

, but there is no requirement that a hybrid name should be created for plants that are believed to be of hybrid origin. The '' International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICNafp) provides the following options in dealing with a hybrid: * A hybrid may get a name; this will usually be the option of choice for naturally occurring hybrids. * A hybrid may also be indicated by a formula listing the parents. Such a formula uses the multiplication sign "×" to link the parents. ** "It is usually preferable to place the names or epithets in a formula in alphabetical order. The direction of a cross may be indicated by including the sexual symbols (♀: female; ♂: male) in the formula, or by placing the female parent first. If a non-alphabetical sequence is used, its basis should be clearly indicated." (H.2A.1) * Grex names can be given to orchid hybrids. A hybrid name is treated like other botanical names, for most purposes, but differs in that: *A hybrid name does not necessarily refer to a morphologically distinctive group, but applies to all progeny of the parents, no matter how much they vary. ** E.g., ''Magnolia'' × ''soulangeana'' applies to all progeny from the cross ''Magnolia denudata'' × ''Magnolia liliiflora'', and from the crosses of all ''their'' progeny, as well as from crosses of any of the progeny back to the parents ( backcrossing). This covers quite a range in flower colour. ** Grex names (for orchids only) differ in that they do not cover crosses from plants within the grex ( F2 hybrids) or back-crosses (crosses between a grex member and its parent). Hybrids can be named with ranks, like other organisms covered by the ICNafp. They are nothotaxa, from notho- (hybrid) +

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

. If the parents (or postulated parents) differ in rank, then the rank of the nothotaxon is the lowest. The names of nothospecies differ depending on whether they are derived from species within the same genus; if more than one parental genus is involved, then the nothospecies name includes a nothogenus name. * ''Pyrus'' × ''bretschneideri'' is a hybrid between two species in the genus '' Pyrus''. * × '' Sorbopyrus auricularis'' in the nothogenus ''Sorbopyrus'', is a hybrid between '' Sorbus aria'' and ''

Pyrus communis ''Pyrus communis'', the common pear, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia. It is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Eu ...

''.

Publication of names

Names of hybrids between genera (called nothogenera) can be published by specifying the names of the parent genera, but without a scientific description, and do not have a type. Nothotaxon names with the rank of a subdivision of a genus (notho-subgenus, notho-section, notho-series, etc.) are also published by listing the parent taxa and without descriptions or types.

Forms of hybrid names

A hybrid name can be indicated by: * a

multiplication sign The multiplication sign, also known as the times sign or the dimension sign, is the symbol , used in mathematics to denote the multiplication operation and its resulting product. While similar to a lowercase X (), the form is properly a four- ...

"×" placed before the name of an intergeneric hybrid or before the epithet of a species hybrid. An intervening space is optional. e.g.: ** × ''Sorbaronia'' or ×''Sorbaronia'' or × ''Sorbaronia'' is the name of hybrids between the genera ''

Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan ( mountain-ash) and service tree. The exact number of species is disputed depe ...

'' and ''

Aronia ''Aronia'' is a genus of deciduous shrubs, the chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. The genus Aronia is considered to have 3 species. The most common and wi ...

'', **''

Iris germanica Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

'' or ''Iris'' ×''germanica'' is a species derived by

hybrid speciation Hybrid speciation is a form of speciation where hybridization between two different species leads to a new species, reproductively isolated from the parent species. Previously, reproductive isolation between two species and their parents was thou ...

* or by the prefix ''notho-'' attached to the

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

(from Ancient Greek νόθος, ''nóthos'', “ bastard”) **'' Crataegus'' nothosect. ''Crataeguineae'' ** ''Iris germanica'' nothovar. ''florentina''. The multiplication sign and the prefix ''notho''- are not part of the actual name and are disregarded for nomenclatural purposes such as

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

, homonymy, etc. This means that a taxonomist could decide to use either form of this name: ''Drosera'' ×''anglica'' to emphasize that it is a hybrid, or ''Drosera anglica'' to emphasize that it is a species. The names of intergeneric hybrids generally have a special form called a ''condensed formula'', e.g., × ''Agropogon'' for hybrids between ''Agrostis'' and ''Polypogon''. Hybrids involving four or more genera are formed from the name of a person, with suffix '' -ara'', e.g., × ''Belleara''. Names for hybrids between three genera can be either a condensed formula or formed from a person's name with suffix ''-ara''.

Notation

The symbol used to indicate a hybrid is . (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

originally used , but abandoned it in favour of the multiplication sign.)

Notes

References

*{{cite book , author=McNeill, J. , collaboration=Barrie, F.R.; Buck, W.R.; Demoulin, V.; Greuter, W.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Herendeen, P.S.; Knapp, S.; Marhold, K.; Prado, J.; Prud'homme Van Reine, W.F.; Smith, G.F.; Wiersema, J.H.; Turland, N.J. , year=2012 , volume=Regnum Vegetabile 154 , title=International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011 , publisher=A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG , isbn=978-3-87429-425-6 , url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php?page=title , ref=McNeill

External links