botanical nomenclature Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; Botany, botanical nomenclature then provides na ...

, 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 diff ...

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 cultivar group, Group epithets must conform t ...

, 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 The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

'' (ICNafp) provides the following options in dealing with a hybrid: * A hybrid may get a name if the author considers it necessary (in practice, authors tend to use this option for naturally occurring hybrids), but it is recommended to use parents' names as they are more informative (art. H.10B.1). * 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 An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

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 Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, to achieve offspring with a genetic identity closer to that of the parent. It is used in horticulture, animal breeding, and produc ...

). 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 A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

, like other organisms covered by the ICNafp. They are nothotaxa, from notho- (hybrid) +

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : 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 name and ...

. 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 Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the sa ...

''. * × ''Pyraria irregularis'', in the nothogenus ''Pyraria'', is a hybrid between ''

Aria edulis ''Aria edulis'', the whitebeam or common whitebeam, is a species of deciduous tree in the family ''Rosaceae''. The tree often forms new shoots around the trunk. Typically compact and domed, the plant has a few upswept branches and the leaves ha ...

'' and ''

Pyrus communis ''Pyrus communis'', the common pear, is a species of pear native plant, 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 ...

''.

Publication of names

Names of hybrids between

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

(called nothogenera) can be published by specifying the names of the parent genera, but without a scientific description, and do not have a

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

. 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 a mathematical symbol used to denote the operation of multiplication, which results in a product. The symbol is also used in botany, in botanical hybrid nam ...

"×" 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'' 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.str.'') are commonly known as rowan or mountain-ash. The genus used to include species commonly known as whitebeam, cheque ...

'' 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 wide ...

'', ** ''Iris'' × ''germanica'' 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 tho ...

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

rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

(from Ancient Greek , , "

bastard Bastard or The Bastard may refer to: Parentage * Illegitimate child, a child born to unmarried parents, in traditional Western family law ** Bastard, an archaic term used in English and Welsh bastardy laws, reformed in 1926 People * "The Bastard" ...

") **''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' 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 precisely 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 a ...

homonymy In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; ''homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or ''homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciatio ...

, 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 ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

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