If you ’ve been pull in houseplants for a while , you ’ll know there ’s a idea - boggling amount of different types of plants out there . There are oodles of different species , but not just that — nurseries also selectively cover or interbreed plants to make even more novel varieties .
Sometimes it feels like you have to be a horticultural scientist just to understand what form of houseplant you ’ve get on your windowsill .
To hopefully make things a little less confusing ( and keep the information all in one easy place to cite ) , I ’ve created this little guide to plant taxonomy .
Below , allow ’s have a spirit at :
And all those other terms you hear throw around in the houseplant world !
Family, genus and species
When trying to make sense of the vast raiment of houseplants out there , one affair that help is to empathise how the different varieties came to be . Some are man - made , but others occur in nature .
I ’ll get going by explain the structure for the latter , then we ’ll move on to stuff that has been dependent to some human meddling .
Scientists actually come up with a neat taxonomical ( naming ) system ages ago to make at least some sense of all the different plants and animals that occur in nature .
This interchangeable system , which you might know as “ scientific naming ” or “ Latin names , ” add up in quite handy for us houseplant enthusiast . After all , if just anyone can make up a name for a plant , affair quickly return into chaos .
Take houseplant common name , which can be wildly confusing .
The same name may be used for two totally dissimilar metal money , or alternatively , one species might go by six different nicknames . That ’s when we use the scientific name , which leaves little doubtfulness about which exact plant we ’re talking about .
As an example , in this article , we ’ll use the genus Philodendron . If you have any houseplant experience , you ’re sure to have heard of this one : There are almost 500species of Philo , many of which are democratic worldwide for indoor growing .
warp up ! This is a hierarchical scheme , so we ’ll bring from broad to constrict . Many gens are in Latin , so do n’t be confused if they sound like gibber to you at first .
What is a plant family?
All of our plants shape part of the kingdom Plantae ( the plants , unsurprisingly ) .
They also belong to different clade ( the flowering plant , the grasses ) and orders , but these category are so broad that you ’ll seldom hear them referred to in the houseplant hobby .
The first stratum in the biologic taxonomy hierarchy that ’s relevant to us daily houseplant collectors , and which you ’ll often hear phratry consult to , is family .
Our exemplar plant , Philodendron , forms part of the family Araceae , also known as the Aroids . There are about 4,000 mintage of Aroids , many of which are democratic as houseplant . There ’s our Philos , but alsoAnthurium , Alocasia , and many more that you might recognize .
The taxonomical concept of family is handy because it helps categorize plants that are thought to have a usual root , and that therefore have sure characteristics in usual .
In the cause of the Aroids , they all have similar flowers , for example . Most are tropicals , meaning they tend to require some the same aid .
There are many more large plant mob that contain classic houseplant favorites . Take the Cactaceae , which includes alltypes of cacti . Or the Orchidaceae , which — you guessed it — houses the orchids .
What is a genus?
Plant family are made up of dissimilar genera ( singular : genus ) .
A genus , in turn , carry unlike species that are particularly closely have-to doe with , sharing a uncouth line and many optical and strong-arm characteristics .
Can you see the pecking order starting to form ? It ’s hopefully decipherable by now how this all comes in ready to hand for identification and classification purposes .
In the casing of the Aroids , Philodendron is one of the 140 or so genera that make up the family . The other plant I mentioned originally , Anthurium and Alocasia , are two other examples of genera in the family Araceae .
The genus Philodendron is a specially large genus of plants , as it has hundreds of appendage . This is n’t always the guinea pig .
Some genus arrest only a handful of species , or even just a single one ! This is called a monotypic genus .
In the Araceae phratry , the pop houseplant Zamioculcas zamiifolia ( ZZ plant ) is a good instance . The genus Zamioculcas is monotypic , with Z. zamiifolia being its only member . There ’s just nothing else like it , so it has the entire genus to itself .
Keep in thinker that plants can be moved to a different genus if it ’s come upon it create for a better fit , often as the result of transmitted testing . In some cases , scientists even make new genus or retire a genus if they realize the previously assumed social organization was n’t quite correct .
Did you know?Species within a genus can often , though not always , interbreed . The materialisation will have genes of both parent mintage , which can lead to a mixed appearance . We ’ll discuss this further in the section on intercrossed houseplants .
What is a species?
I ’ve observe species already : they ’re what make up a genus .
Species are very closely related , with the industrial plant within them broadly look ( almost ) very . They can reproduce together and , in the case of houseplants , their care requirements pretty much always apply to the species as a whole .
Now that we ’ve collect genus and mintage , we can correctly write a plant ’s scientific name . It pass like this : Genus specie . In the case of our Philos , the genus is Philodendron , which is always capitalize .
As I cite earlier , there are almost 500 mintage of Philodendron within the genus .
One example often arise as a houseplant would bePhilodendron gloriosum , which is naturally found in Colombia and favored for its velvety leave-taking . “ Gloriosum ” is the species designation , which is never capitalized when publish the name .
Did you know?For the sake of briefness , it ’s allowed to shorten the written notation for the genus name . This comes in handy if you ’re listing a whole bunch of species within a genus , for example . For Philodendron gloriosum , you ’d simply turn it into P. gloriosum .
What is a subspecies?
apply enough clock time , plants that belong to the same species might diverge a little .
In many case , this is because they naturally pass in a different region and therefore finally evolve some characteristic that help them adapt to their specific develop zone . Still , they ’re not different enough to warrant the creative activity of a new species .
The scientific name for a race is as follow : Genus mintage subsp . subspecies . I’m actually not aware of any philodendron that have subspecies , but in some other works genera , it ’s common .
TheAfrican violetis an good example of a genus that has multiple species , many of which in turn have multiple subspecies .
An example of one of the species would be Streptocarpus ionanthus , often known as the “ original ” African reddish blue . One of its race is Streptocarpus ionanthus subsp . grandifolius , a name that suggests this one has evolved to grow bigger leaves than the master !
What is a variety?
I promise we ’ve reached the last step of our scientific plant taxonomy journeying here !
A plant variety is similar to a subspecies , but the differences tend to be a bit more minor . As such , they do n’t warrant the creation of a full subspecies .
The right written notational system for a variety within a species is as follows : Genus species var . variety .
In the genus Philodendron , one instance of a popular houseplant species that has different miscellany is Philodendron hederaceum . It has three :
Cultivars, nativars, and hybrids
The taxonomical system of family , genus , and species that we just discussed applies to plants that occur in nature .
Of course , though , us world can never just will thing be ! We frequently take plant in their instinctive land and then gradually modify them to befit our need .
The most poignant exercise of this are food plants . Take corn ( scientific name Zea mays ): before we began modifying it , themaize plantdidn’t produce big black-backed gull . It looked something more like a wheat plant life .
Around 9,000 long time ago in the domain that is now Mexico , folks get planting essence from the most desirable corn plants ( with squeamish big cob and plenty of edible sum ) , for next yr ’s crop .
By taking the better kernel each time , they gradually produce corn plants with much bigger cobs and way more rows of kernels .
This bring us to cultivars , nativars , and hybrids . These all refer to certain adjustments made by world to a naturally pass species .
What is a cultivar?
The concept of choose the most suitable specimen and continuing to spawn them ( selective refinement ) is also done with houseplant . It allows greenhouse to produce new potpourri that are stout and more ornamental .
These are telephone cultivars .
If you remember that “ cultivar ” means “ domesticate variety , ” then you ’ll have no trouble remember the difference between a cultivar and a mixed bag .
While a plain older “ variety ” is a naturally occurring phenomenon , a educate variety ( “ cultivar ” ) exists only through human propagation .
As an instance , let ’s say that a houseplant raiser finds a Philodendron in his industrial plant nursery that has pointier leave than the other member of its species , peradventure as a resultant role of a genetic mutation .
Let ’s also say that the pointy leaves count pretty cool , and the botanist in inquiry think a plant with this look has commercial-grade economic value . What they can do in this case is isolate the works in question and produce more .
This can be done in one of two ways :
Method # 1 : Wait for it to bloom , then pollinate it using another plant life of the same species . If the genetic mutation is stable , some of the seedlings may have pointy parting as well .
The raiser can then pick out those , breed them together , and finally acquire a product line of pointy - leaved works . However , these mutation are n’t always stable : the seedling may come out looking normal and around - leaved .
Method # 2 : Propagate the pointy - leave behind plant life asexually by means of make cuttings , or even through tissue - polish ( which is fundamentally propagation on a microscopic level ) .
The advantage of this is that the materialisation is always monovular to the mother plant .
Once a stable melody of pointy - leaved plants has been established , a cultivar is born . The botanist can name them , which is done as such : Genus name + species name + ‘ Cultivar Name ’ . It ’s usually shortened to Genus name + ‘ Cultivar Name ’ , though .
For example : Philodendron ‘ Pink Princess ’ . cultivar can even be patented !
What is a nativar?
You may have listen the full term ‘ nativar ’ , although it ’s mostly used in gardening , not in the houseplant spare-time activity . A nativar is just a cultivar of a native plant .
The name is stand for to convey that , yes , the plant in question is a aboriginal specie . However , it has been open to a sure degree of selective polish , meaning it ’s not completely in its “ original ” state anymore .
What is a hybrid?
Lastly , we ’ve got hybrids . I ’ve already mentioned that often , dissimilar species within a genus can reproduce .
What this have in mind is that if our aforementioned phytologist has one Philodendron species with nice pointy leaves , and one with cosmetic splits in its foliage , he might be able to pollinate one using pollen from the other .
The resulting seedlings will be a transmitted intermixture of their parent . Some may look more like the mom , others more like the pappa , and some may just look exactly like the grower wanted and have leave that are both splitandpointy .
They can now take these and keep multiply them together to produce a unchanging line that always has pointy - snag leaves .
A cross can be name in two fashion . One is to go forGenus name + distaff parent mintage name×male parent species name .
Example : Philodendron pastazanum × mamei means the mom was a P. pastazanum and the dad was a P. mamei .
Alternatively , the loanblend can be give its own name . An example is Philodendron × Florida , which as we ’ll see later , is a crossing between P. squamiferum and P. pedatum .
This is where thing get a lilliputian murky , though , as it always tends to do when it add up to man - made flora .
Often , the × will finally disappear , with the industrial plant being name to more like a cultivar . After all , nowadays , you wo n’t see anyone writing Philodendron × Florida .
alternatively , the flora is often called Philodendron ‘ Florida ’ . Or even worse , Philodendron florida , which suggests it ’s a specie that take place in the wild , when it ’s not !
It does n’t help that genetic mutations of intercrossed plants canalsobe used to establish a new line and make whole newfangled intercrossed cultivars . There are multiple levels of human meddling there that can be quite difficult to distinguish , but hey — at least now you knowwhythings can get so confusing sometimes .
Did you know?It ’s say the first loanblend Philodendron was a crossbreeding between P. hastatum and P. erubescens , produced in 1936 .
author :
McColley , R. H. , & Miller , H. N. ( 1965 ) . Philodendron improvement through hybridization . InProc . Fla. State Hort . Soc(Vol . 78 , pp . 409 - 415 ) .
