What is a Cultivar?

Posted by Robert Dailey Jan 3, 2008

Cultivar is short for “cultivated variety, and refers to a plant which is bred for specific characteristics.

A specific cultivar may be grown because of its beauty, color, fragrance, shape, insect or disease resistance that is different from the rest of its genus and species. It could be a cultivar that grows best in one climate or other or has uses which distinguish it from the rest of the genus and species. Some grower may recognized this and began duplicating the plant through cuttings.

New plants produced from this “parent” are actually clones of the originally plant. They are clones because they are not reproduced by seed. They resemble the parent plant in every way, because they have the identical genes as the parent plant.

Cultivars may also be reproduced by seed. This generally occurs when a hybridized species is developed and desireable features have been selected.

Cultivars are identified by a “cultivar” name which follows the genus and species name of the plant. The cultivar name is set off by single quotation marks.

For instance, the butterfly plant (Buddleia davidii) has some specific characteristics, one of which is it’s beautiful flowers. A new cultivar (Black Knight) has been developed and currently being sold in nurseries. The form used when identifying a cultivar is Buddleia davidii ‘Black Knight’.