ICNCP

My purpose is not to argue appropriateness of the rules or anything else 
simply to present the code as printed and discussed in the publication of 
1995.

There have been several suggestions at what the rules are for naming hostas 
for registration most of which were incorrect in some manner.  Although all 
specific questions should be directed to David Stevenson, the official 
registrar for the Genus Hosta, in his capacity as an employee of a co- 
International Registration Authority ("IRA"), I will attempt to address some 
of the questions that have been asked.  The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and 
the American Hosta Society are the co-IRAs for the Genus Hosta.  (In 
daylilies, the American Hemerocallis Society is the IRA and Gretchen Baxter 
is the registrar.

The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants ("ICNCP") is 
promulgated by the International Commission for the Nomenclature of 
Cultivated Plants.  This committee is a subcommittee of the International 
Union of Botanical Sciences ("IUBS") which in turn is a subcommittee of the 
International Council of Scientific Unions ("ICSU") which in turn is a 
subcommittee of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization ("UNESCO") which is a committee of the United Nations ("UN")  
(Likewise there is an International Code of Botanical Nomenclature ("ICBN") 
for species -- naturally occuring plants also promulagated pursuant to the 
same authority.)  Thus, the American Hosta Society is not to blame for the 
rules.  In fact the committee that drafted the rules had no member that was 
also an IRA.

The purpose of the ICNCP and the ICBN is to ensure that their are consistent 
rules for naming plants internationally so that a Hosta 'Francee' is the same 
genus and cultivar wherever it is sold or traded.  The ICNCP applies to what 
are also called "fancy" names.

The Code was amended in 1995, prior to that the version being used was based 
upon the  amendments of 1980, and prior to that the amendments of 1959.  The 
code was amended in 1995 to accomodate changing language, usage, and the 
volume of names.

The ICNCP is designed to provide the rules for IRAs to apply when registering 
cultivars (cultivated varieties -- those that are the result of hybridization 
or mutation), (the ICBN applies to naming species, or other levels of 
naturally occuring plants).

The totality of the annotated rules run 39 pages and include: 2 pages of 
Preamble; 3 pages of principles; 34 pages of rules divided into 32 Articles.

The principle Article that has been discussed on the robins is Article 17 
which runs for 4-1/2 pages.  The key provisions to the most recent discussion 
are Article 17.10 which states in principle part "new cultivar epithets 
(names) must consist of no more than 10 syllables and no more than 30 letters 
or characters overall, excluding spaces and demarcating marks.  Article 17.19 
details what are demarcating marks, but includes apostrophes ( ' ) which 
earlier versions of the code did not.  There are also specific words and uses 
of words which are prohibited by the code.

I am happy to answer any other questions but keep two things in mind 1) David 
Stevenson is the registrar and should be consulted for specific registration 
questions regarding a cultivar you wish to register and 2) I will leave for 
Philadelphia in the morning and will be there for the next 4 days at the 
daylily convention; so I may not get to your questions right away.

I hope this helps those who had questions.



Kevin P. Walek
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE HOSTA-OPEN
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index