What is the definition of 'cultivar'?

[Martin Baxendale]

I can live with a wild plant being given a cultivar name if it is significantly different from others of its kind, in the wild and assuming it is brought into cultivation. That's fair enough. What annoys me is when a wild plant of which there are hundreds/thousands/millions in the wild, all visually identical, is given a cultivar name. I was particulartly offended years ago and many alpine growers in NZ were, that an English nurseryman came to NZ, collected many plants and took them home and named them for his nursery and his family members. They were native plants which had no differences from others of the same species.

Okay, I'm with you now, Lesley. In my typically dense male way I hadn't cottoned on to the exact nature of your objections.

Have to admit my initial thought on seeing the pic of Azalea (sorry, Rhodo!) 'Persil' was similar to Fermi's - not that good an ad for the washing powder with that yellow stain in the centre, but then wee stains can be very stubborn.

[johnw]

Sleazy, Dirty, Crappy, Fatty, Skinny, Pimply and Fart!

Well I for one will not be getting into the tub with that lot.

johnw

[Giles]

I think the clearest is: http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantnaming.asp#trade
It covers the use of 'trade designations' which allow a cultivar to be marketed with a name appropriate/understandable in the country in which it is being sold.
The cultivar name is the same in all countries, but the 'selling' name varies from country to country.

[Lesley Cox]

I think the clearest is: http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantnaming.asp#trade
It covers the use of 'trade designations' which allow a cultivar to be marketed with a name appropriate/understandable in the country in which it is being sold.
The cultivar name is the same in all countries, but the 'selling' name varies from country to country.

But this too can cause problems for the unsuspecting buyer who has the plant with its English name then buys it again a year or so later under a Dutch/German/French name because a nursery/wholesaler has imported it under THAT name and either doesn't realize it's already around or - more likely - chooses not to let it be known that this is the same plant already in the trade, just under a different name.

I now avoid any name in a nursery catalogue which I know as a species but which now appears with a cultivar name. I used to assume here was a superior form but now I know it is just what I have already but with a "selling" name, in order, in fact, to boost sales rather than introduce something better than was available previously.