The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Horticultural plants of the same species that are distinctive enough to be given a name are called cultivars, which is short for "cultivated variety." A cultivar can be distinguished from other similar cultivars by some combination of characters, including appearance, color, taste, size, and pest resistance. Although the terms variety and cultivar are used interchangeably, cultivar is not the same as a botanical variety, which is a taxonomic category below the species level that can apply to both wild and cultivated plants.
According to rules for naming plants, cultivar names must be in modern languages and not italicized. The first letters are capitalized and the name is either preceded by the abbreviation cv. (cultivar) or is put in single quotes. For example, a commonly grown yellow tomato is Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Yellow Pear and a popular type of sweet corn is Zea mays 'Silver Queen.' Cultivar names can follow generic, specific, or common names.
New cultivars are usually developed from either wild ancestors or established cultivars through selective breeding, a process that has been ongoing since the domestication of plants. Desired traits can also arise through mutations and plant viruses. Modern technologies of cloning and tissue culture that allow plants to be propagated vegetatively have added greatly to the number of such cultivars now produced.
Breeding; Horticulture; Ornamental Plants; Species; Taxonomy.