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Taxonomy Clarification Requested


Am I right in assuming that the term cultivar (abbreviation cv.) is used properly to 
refer to a plant arising in cultivation or maintained solely in cultivation? That the term 
variety refers technically to any variation within a species or subspecies? That the 
term type technically refers to a plant that is considered representative of a species 
or subspecies? And that the term subspecies refers to a genetically transmissible 
variation within a species, where the term form or forma refers to a variation arising 
within a member of a species that may not be transmissible via seed but is 
reproducable via cloning? I know this all sounds either nitpicky or obvious, depending 
on whom I am talking to here, but the botanies I have consulted have the irritating 
habit of defining these words in terms of one another. Help!

Rand Lee
randbear@nets.com
505-438-7038


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