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Please read the document through without clicking links in the first pass.
Then go through the document again, and click on the links for further information on some of the terms.
Ive referred you to the web sites of experts in the field. I've no wish to expound on such great works.
The vast majority of plant names used by Amateur Gardeners are of quite simple botanical structure.
Some of the remainder are quite complex.
At the other end of the scale, some are downright mind boggling to an amateur gardener.
Ideas Genie Pro can cope with any plant name.
When listed in Gardening Reference Books, plants appear in alphabetical order.
However, if you inspect the order closely, you will find that there are some subtle "rules".
Some elements of the plant name are NOT considered in the alphabetical order.
Examples are: var, subvar. subsp. f. etc
In hybrid plants, the x (cross) in Intergeneric hybrids and the x in hybrid species
are not included in the reasoning to determine the alphabetical order.
In Ideas Genie and Ideas Genie Pro, the botanical plant name is dissected into elements, and entered in separate fields e.g. Family,
Genus, species, sub-species and Cultivar.
Ideas Genie Pro has 12 “elements” for the botanical plant name , plus Common name.
When you display a list of plants, Ideas Genie and Ideas Genie Pro re-assembles these elements into the full plant name.
This programming technique is exploited to its full extent in Ideas Genie Pro.
Behind the scenes, the index order for the list of plants is determined, by omitting the elements which do not contribute to the index order.
When re-assembled, the plants are listed/printed in the order they would appear in a good reference book.
I exploited this technique even further to cope with the complexities of plant naming in relation to
plants with Trade Designations.
Very briefly, plants introduced by breeders are registered under one name, the cultivar name.
The cultivar name is often used for that purpose only… for registration.
When they are put to market, they are advertised and sold with a more suitable name, to suit an occasion, an event, or a more acceptable name in another country. This name is termed the Trade Designation.
The cultivar name remains unchanged at all times!
This practice appears to have originated in the Genus Rosa, but is now used in many other genera.
By law, the industry must display the original Cultivar name on plant labels at the point of sale.
This full name will include the Genus name, the Trade Designation AND the Cultivar name.
On web sites you will most likely find the plant referenced by its short name - Genus name and Trade Designation. Very
often the Genus name is omitted, and the plant is advertised by its trade designation only. Very rarely will you see the cultivar name as used for registration (when a plant has a Trade Designation).
Ideas Genie Pro can cope with plants with trade designations.
Here’s another wonderful feature provided in Ideas Genie Pro.
You can click a radio button to toggle between “Long Names” and “Short Names” (my terminolgy, to fit IG screens).
Thus, you can display or print your plant lists with the Cultivar name shown (Long Names) or with
the Cultivar name excluded (Short Names)
Switching between Long Names and Short Names has no effect on the names of plants which do not have Trade Designations.
There’s one additional little” complexity in naming of plants with Trade Designations.
In the RHS Plant Finder where trade designations and cultivar names are known, they are listed with an = between them to tie
them together.
In the NCCPG web site (see links) National Collection holders are instructed to drop the = sign in a plant list or on a label (at point of sale)
The example given is:
Rosa RING OF FIRE = Morefire
The NCCPG web site also states that the trade designation should be shown in something like SMALL CAPITALS
or a different font face to differentiate it.
Per the instructions, the example could become
Rosa RING OF FIRE Morefire
So, a major dilemna in the system design. Which should I adopt for Ideas Genie Pro?
I provided for BOTH!
I’ve provided a feature where you can select what "flavour" of plant name you wish to display and print.
By making a selection in the Preferences program, you can opt for an = sign between Trade
Designation and Cultivar name, when the Long Names option is selected.
Needless to say, the Plant Names part of the upgrade was a major exercise.
LINKS for Further Information on Plant Names:
In the following list:
RHS is the recognised abbreviation for the Royal Horticultural Society
IPNI is the recognised abbreviation for International Plant Names Index
NCCPG is the recognised abbreviation for the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens
RHS Plant Finder
The RHS Horticultural Database
This is a larger database than The RHS Plant
Finder (it also contains plant names from all the RHS gardens) and also has more details, such as comments on the RHS considered status of the plant name.
Basic principles of classification and naming of Cultivated plants
Many thanks to Paul Hackney, Curator of Botany, for his help and advice in my reseach into plant names.
NCCPG - Some definitions
NCCPG - Anatomy of a plant name
NCCPG - Naming Cultivated Plants
A VERY good web page!
IPNI - Plant Name Query
IPNI - Query Authors
Many thanks to Christine Barker of the IPNI, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, U.K.
Kew Bibliographic Databases
Plant Breeders' Rights
International Society for Horticultural Science
ICRA Cultivar search
Flora Europaea
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 7, May 2006 [and more or less continuously updated since]
Curtis's Botanical Magazine
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