What

1
Whats in a Name?Nomenclature for Plant
Professionals

• OSU Nursery Short Course
• January 26, 1999
• Jim Chatfield
• Ohio State University Extension

2
Whats in a Name?Nomenclature for Plant
Professionals

• Jim Chatfield
• Ohio State University Extension

3
Good knowledge of plant names helps with
questions such as

• A. Is a red maple a good choice for a wet, sunny
  site?
• B. Are all ornamental pears equally susceptible
  to storm damage?
• C. What is the size of the species Viburnum
  opulus vs. the cultivar V. opulus Compactum
  vs. the cultivar V. opulus Nanum?
• D. Are chokeberries susceptible to bacterial
  fireblight?

4
REVIEW Latin binomials for some organisms
mentioned above

• Human beings --- Homo sapiens
• Apple scab fungus --- Venturia inaequalis
• Dawn redwood --- Metasequoia glyptostroboides
• Coast redwood --- Sequoia sempervirens
• Red maple --- Acer rubrum
• Silver maple --- Acer saccharinum

5
If asked to pick up red chokeberries from a
garden center, should you takeAronia
melanocarpaORAronia arbutifolia
6
Which of the following might be called a red
maple?A. Acer palmatum BloodgoodB. Acer
platanoides Crimson KingC. Acer rubrum
October GloryWhich would thrive in an open,
wet site?
7
Cultivar Example IIC. Some Acer platanoides
Schwedleri seeds were planted, and some of
these seedlings were selected and subsequently
cloned for their maroon foliar color that
persisted all season. These were namedAcer
platanoides Crimson KingNote Cultivars are
denoted either by putting the cultivar name in
single quotes or by using their abbreviation
cv. before the cultivar name. As inAcer
platanoides Crimson KingAcer platanoides cv.
Crimson King
8
HYBRID NAMESInterspecific hybrid EXAMPLE
The cross between sycamore Platanus
occidentalis And Oriental planetree Platanus
orientalis Is the London planetree Platanus
x acerifolia (with the unitalicized x
indicating the cross)
9
REVIEW Which of the following is a plant species?

• A. Pyrus
• B. calleryana
• C. Pyrus calleryana
• D. Rosaceae