Re: Cultivars

**f*@aol.com**

What's the question?
 I did write about the meaning of the word cultivar, i.e., that it's a hybrid word (CULTIvated VARiety) that may or may not refer to a hybrid plant, as did Catriona. A hybrid is, of course, a cross of two distinct plants; hybrids may be man-made, or spontaneous -- a "bee cross" as such things are called. Cultivars can be hybrids, but can also be branch sports or other mutations selected and propagated, usually asexually as Tom says. Mutations can also be induced, or occur naturally.
JF

From: tloallergyfree <tloallergyfree@earthlink.net>
To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thu, Feb 28, 2013 2:05 am
Subject: Re: [GWL] Cultivars

Did anyone ever answer this?

A "cultivar" may or may not be a hybrid....Many cultivars are simply selections 
and not hybrids at all. Not all hybrids become cultivars either. In horticulture 
a cultivar is usually a plant that is only propagated asexually, whereas many 
hybrid plants are grown from seed. Cultivar, to my mind anyhow, is actually an 
important word.

Tom Ogren

-----Original Message-----
>From: Catriona Erler <catriona@catrionatudorerler.com>
>Sent: Feb 25, 2013 3:36 PM
>To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Subject: [GWL] Cultivars
>
>Reminds me of the wonderful quote from H.E. Bates' book A Love of Flowers which 
was published in 1974, the year he died.  By that time he was crusty and 
opinionated!  Here's the quote:  "(I note, by the way, a growing habit among 
gardening writers of using the detestable word 'cultivar', which always sounds 
to me like an ugly Russian cross between 'samovar' and a collective farm.  I 
consequently consign it to the muck-heap with such contemporary horrors as 
teach-in, fenestration, escalate, proliferate, reflation, where I hope it will 
rot.)"
>
>I guess before they just used the term hybrid.  Is there a difference?
>
>Catriona
>On Feb 25, 2013, at 2:30 PM, frielster@aol.com wrote:
>
>> Single quotes indicate the variety or cultivar (shorthand for "cultivated 
variety" name. 
>
>Catriona Tudor Erler

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