the initials and the surname. Hyphenated names are treated as one word.
Abbreviations require a stop; contractions do not.
Examples: Potentilla fruticosa ‘Daydawn’; Clematis ‘Belle Nantaise’;
Crocosmia ‘Jenny Bloom’; Mahonia repens ‘Rotundifolia’;
Tulipa ‘Queen of Sheba’; Erica × darleyensis‘J.W. Porter’;
Prunus mume ‘Omoi-no-mama’; Narcissus ‘St Keverne’
TRADE DESIGNATIONS
When plants are registered for Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) under a code-name or have a
cultivar name in a foreign language, they are often sold using an alternative name or a
translation, both of which are termed trade designations. These are not regarded as
direct equivalents of the cultivar name and should not be printed in the same way. A
trade designation should always be quoted in tandem with the cultivar name (except
where this is not known) and styled in a different font, without single quotation marks.
Translation of cultivar names is to be discouraged and there is no necessity to use
translations when the original is known.
Examples: PBR: Rosa RADIO TIMES ‘Aussal’
Rosa MEMENTO
Fragaria PINK PANDA ‘Frel’
Translation: Potentilla fruticosa MOONLIGHT ‘Maanelys’
Hydrangea macrophylla BLUE PRINCE ‘Blauer Prinz’
TRADEMARKS
Increasingly, plants are being sold using trade-marks as alternatives to or in addition to
cultivar names. Strictly speaking, trade-marks should not be quoted without
permission from the trade-mark holder, but in some cases there is no alternative name
to use. Trade-marks are not cultivar names or trade designations but are best treated in
the same way as trade designations with the addition of ™ or ® as appropriate.
Examples: Rosa LA SEVILLANA® ‘Meigekanu’
Rosmarinus SILVER SPIRES™
Petunia SURFINIA® HOT PINK ‘Marrose’
GREXES AND CULTIVAR-GROUPS
For cultivated orchids, use is made of grex names for plants sharing the same parentage,
as well as cultivar names for individual clones. In other cases, assemblages of related or
similar plants are placed in cultivar-groups. Both grex and group names are printed in
Roman, with capital initial letters. The word Group is always part of group names, but
the word grex or the abbreviation g. is now rarely used.
Examples: grex: Cymbidium Strathdon; × Vuylstekeara Cambria ‘Plush’
group: Hosta Tardiana Group
Rhododendron (PJM Group) ‘Rim Checkmate’
Polystichum setiferum (Divisilobum Group) ‘Divisilobum Densum’
FAMILIES
The names of plant families should be printed in italics (or underlined
) with a capital
initial letter.
Examples: Rosaceae; Berberidaceae; Compositae
EXCEPTIONS
In certain circumstances, strict adherence to these guidelines could render particular
forms of publication difficult to understand clearly through lack of contrast in the fonts
required. Where plant names form important headings, especially in lists, it may, for
instance,
be more appropriate for clarity to use capital letters in a Roman font, which