1. Meaning of Plant Names

i. Commemorative: e.g. Fuchsia, after the German physician and herbalist Leonhart Fuchs.
ii. Plant origin: e.g. Parrotia persica (Persia).
iii. Name of collector who introduced it into cultivation: e.g. Primula forrestii, after George Forrest.
iv. Physical character: e.g. Pelargonium (Pelargos - a stork - an appropriate description of the fruits);
    Parthenocissus quinquefolia (5-leaflets; quinque =5, folium = leaf).

Generic names (Latin) are either male, or female, or neuter and the specific epithets, usually adjectives, therefore agree in gender with the genus.

2. Subspecies, Varieties and Forms

Species are usually variable in the wild and may be split into 3 botanically recognised, but occasionally overlapping, sub-divisions (and any naturally occurring variations are written in Latin):

i. The subspecies (subsp.) is a distinct variant, usually because of its geographical distribution.
ii. The variety (var.) differs slightly in its botanical structure.
iii. The form (forma, or f.) has only minor variations, such as habit, colour of leaf, flowers or fruit.

N.B. the terms subsp., var. and forma are written in roman lower case, and the naturally occuring sub-division takes a latin name,written in italic.

Examples:
Halmium lasianthum subsp. formosum
Magnolia campbellii var. mollicomata
Pinus sylvestris forma fastigiata.

3. Cultivars

Many plants grown in gardens may be adequately recognised by their botanical names but numerous variants exist in cultivation, which differ slightly from the normal form of the species. These may be of considerable horticultural interest. They may be found in the wild and introduced to cultivation, be selected from a batch of seedlings, or occur as a mutation; these are known as cultivated varieties or cultivars. The naming of cultivars is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. Any cultivars named since 1959 must be given vernacular names, printed in upright letters within quotes (e.g. Phygelius capensis 'Yellow Trumpet') to distinguish them clearly from wild varieties in Latin form (printed in italics).

Further examples:
Santolina pinnata subsp. neapolitana 'Sulphurea'
Pieris formosa var. forrestii 'Wakehurst'.

4. Hybrids

i.e. sexual crosses between botanically distinct genera or species.

Intergeneric (bigeneric) hybrids are crosses between 2 species in different genera, and the name given is a condensed form of the names of the genera involved.
E.g. Cupressus macrocarpa and Xanthocyparis nootkatensis, giving x Cuprocyparis leylandii.

Interspecific hybrids are crosses between 2 species in the same genus, and are given a new collective name.
E.g. Berberis x stenophylla; Epimedium x rubrum.

When one plant is grafted onto another a new plant may occasionally arise at the point of grafting which contains the tissues of both parents (known as a chimaera).
E.g. Laburnum and Cytisus, giving + Laburnocytisus adamii.

Cultivars of hybrids should be listed under a botanical name if one is available, e.g. Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn', or if the parentage is complex or obscure by giving just the generic name followed by the cultivar name, e.g. Rosa 'Buff Beauty'.

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