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{{Confused|Cultivar}}{{Short description|Plant that is the result of artificial selection}}

A '''cultigen''' ({{etymology|la|{{wikt-lang|la|cultus}}|cultivated||{{wikt-lang|la|gens}}|kind}}), or '''cultivated plant''',{{noteTag|1=This is a scientific term defined by the [[ICNCP]], not literally a plant in cultivation.<ref>{{Cite book|edition=9th|last3=Cubey|last8=Jin|first7=V.|last7=Malécot|last6=Leslie|first6=A.C.|first5=M.H.A.|last5=Hoffman|first4=J.C.|last4=David|first3=J.J.|first2=C.|url=https://www.ishs.org/sites/default/files/static/ScriptaHorticulturae_18.pdf|last2=Alexander|first1=C.D.|title=International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants|last1=Brickell|oclc=1029031329|isbn=978-94-6261-116-0|location=Leuven|date=2016|publisher=International Society for Horticultural Science|first8=Xiaobai|page=144|access-date=2020-09-20|archive-date=2021-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125190519/https://www.ishs.org/sites/default/files/static/ScriptaHorticulturae_18.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}} is a plant that has been deliberately [[Selective breeding|altered or selected by humans]],<ref name="spencer">{{Harvnb|Spencer|Cross|2007}}</ref> by means of [[genetically modified|genetic modification]], [[graft-chimaera]]s, [[plant breeding]], or wild or cultivated plant selection. These plants have commercial value in [[horticulture]], [[agriculture]] and [[forestry]]. Plants meeting this definition remain cultigens whether they are [[Naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]], deliberately planted in the wild, or grown in cultivation.

==Naming==
The traditional method of scientific naming is under the ''[[International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants]]'', and many of the most important cultigens, like [[maize]] (''Zea mays'') and [[banana]] (''Musa acuminata''), are named. The items in the list can be in any rank.<ref>{{cite book |author1=McNeill, J. |author2=Barrie, F.R. |author3=Buck, W.R. |author4=Demoulin, V. |author5=Greuter, W. |author6=Hawksworth, D.L. |author7=Herendeen, P.S. |author8=Knapp, S. |author9=Marhold, K. |author10=Prado, J. |author11=Prud'homme Van Reine, W.F. |author12=Smith, G.F. |author13=Wiersema, J.H. |author14=Turland, N.J. |year=2012 |volume=Regnum Vegetabile 154 |title=International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011 |publisher=A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG |isbn=978-3-87429-425-6 |url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php?page=title |access-date=2014-07-28 |archive-date=2013-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104060236/http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php?page=title |url-status=live }} Art. 28 "Note 3. Nothing precludes the use, for cultivated plants, of names published in accordance with the requirements of this Code."</ref> It is more common currently for cultigens to be given names in accordance with the ''[[International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants]]'' (ICNCP) principles, rules and recommendations, which provide for the names of cultigens in three categories: the [[cultivar]], the [[Cultivar group|Group]] (formerly the cultivar-group), and the [[Grex (horticulture)|grex]].{{noteTag|1=The category grex was added in the 2009 ''Cultivated Plant Code'' and applies only to orchids (Article 4).}} The ICNCP does not recognize the use of trade designations and other marketing devices as scientifically acceptable names; it does provide advice on how they should be presented.<ref name=ICNCP>{{cite book |vauthors=Brickell CD, Alexander C, David JC, Hetterscheid WA, Leslie AC, Malecot V, Jin X |others=Editorial committee; Cubey, J.J. |year=2009 |title=International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP or Cultivated Plant Code) incorporating the Rules and Recommendations for naming plants in cultivation, Eighth Edition, Adopted by the International Union of Biological Sciences International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants |publisher=International Association for Plant Taxonomy and International Society for Horticultural Science |url=http://www.actahort.org/chronica/pdf/sh_10.pdf |access-date=2014-07-28 |archive-date=2011-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813170303/http://www.actahort.org/chronica/pdf/sh_10.pdf |url-status=dead }} Article 10 and Appendix 10.</ref>

Not all cultigens have been given names according to the ICNCP. Apart from ancient cultigens, there may be occasional anthropogenic plants, such as those that are the result of breeding, selection, and tissue grafting, that are considered of no commercial value and have therefore not been given names according to the ICNCP.

== Origin of term ==
[[File:Liberty Hyde Bailey 1858-1954.jpg|thumb|Liberty Hyde Bailey 1858–1954, who coined the word ''cultigen'' in 1918]]
The word ''cultigen'' was coined in 1918<ref>Bailey, L. H. 1918. The indigen and cultigen. ''Science'' ser. 2, 47:306–308</ref> by [[Liberty Hyde Bailey]] (1858–1954), an American horticulturist, botanist and cofounder of the [[American Society for Horticultural Science]]. He created the term from the thought of a need for special categories for cultivated plants that had arisen by intentional human activity and which would not fit neatly into the [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean]] hierarchical classification of ranks used by the ''International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature'' (which later became the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'').

In his 1918 paper, Bailey noted that for anyone preparing a descriptive account of the cultivated plants of a region (he was at that time preparing such an account for North America), it would be clear that there are two ''gentes'' or kinds (Latin singular {{wikt-lang|la|gens}}, plural {{wikt-lang|la|gentes}}) of plants. Firstly, he referred to those that are of known origin or nativity "of known habitat" as [[indigen]]s; the other kind was "a domesticated group of which the origin may be unknown or indefinite, which has such characters as to separate it from known indigens, and which is probably not represented by any type specimen or exact description, having, therefore, no clear taxonomic beginning".
He called this second kind of plant a cultigen; the word was thought to be derived from the combination of the Latin {{lang|la|cultus}} ('cultivated') and {{lang|la|gens}} ('kind'). In 1923, Bailey emphasised that he was dealing with plants at the rank of species, referring to indigens as those that are discovered in the wild and cultigens as plants that arise in some way under the hand of man.<ref>Bailey, L. H. 1923. Various cultigens, and transfers in nomenclature. ''Gentes Herb''. 1:113–136</ref> He then defined a cultigen as a species, or its equivalent, that has appeared under domestication. Bailey soon altered his 1923 definition of cultigen when, in 1924, he gave a new definition in the Glossary of his ''Manual of Cultivated Plants''<ref>{{Cite book |last=L. H. |first=Bailey |title=Manual of cultivated plants: A flora for the identification of the most common or significant species of plants grown in the continental United States and Canada, for food, ornament, utility, and general interest, both in the open and under glass |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |year=1925 |language=en |asin=B00085D7ZC}}</ref> as:<blockquote>Plant or group known only in cultivation; presumably originating under domestication; contrast with indigen</blockquote>

=== Cultivars ===
The 1924 definition of the cultigen permits the recognition of cultivars; the 1923 definition restricts the idea of the cultigen to plants at the rank of species. In later publications of the ''Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium'', Cornell, the idea of the cultigen having the rank of species returned (e.g., ''Hortus Second'' in 1941 and ''Hortus Third'' in 1976).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hyde Bailey |first1=Liberty |title=Hortus Second a Concise Dictionary of Gardening, General Horticulture and Cultivated Plants in North America |last2=Zoe Bailey |first2=Ethel |publisher=[[MacMillan & Company]] |date=January 1, 1949 |language=en |asin=B000YT68Y4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |date=November 1, 1976 |isbn=978-0025054707}}</ref> Both of these publications indicate that the terms ''cultigen'' and ''cultivar'' are not synonymous and that cultigens exist at the rank of species only.
<blockquote>A cultigen is a plant or group of apparent specific rank, known only in cultivation, with no determined nativity, presumably having originated, in the form in which we know it, under domestication. Compare indigen. Examples are ''Cucurbita maxima'', ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', ''Zea mays''.</blockquote>

Botanical historian Alan Morton thought that wild and cultivated plants (cultigens) were of interest to the ancient Greek botanists (partly for religious reasons) and that the distinction was discussed in some detail by [[Theophrastus]], the "Father of Botany". Theophrastus accepted the view that it was human action, not divine intervention, that produced cultivated plants (cultigens) from wild plants, and he also "had an inkling of the limits of culturally induced ([[phenotype|phenotypic]]) changes and of the importance of genetic constitution" (''[[Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)|Historia Plantarum]]'' III, 2,2 and ''Causa Plantarum'' I, 9,3). He also states that cultivated varieties of fruit trees would degenerate if cultivated from seed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alan G. |first=Morton |title=History of Botanical Science: An Account of the Development of Botany from Ancient Times to the Present Day |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |year=1981 |isbn=9780125083829 |edition=reprinted 3rd}}</ref>

In his 1923 paper, Bailey established a new category for the cultivar. Bailey was never explicit about the [[etymology]] of the word ''cultivar''; it has been suggested that it is a contraction of the words ''cultigen'' or ''cultivated'' and ''variety''.<ref>Trehane, P. 2004. 50 years of the ''International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants''. ''Acta Horticulturae'' 634: 17-27.</ref> He defined cultivar in his 1923 paper as: <blockquote>
 a race subordinate to species, that has originated and persisted under cultivation; it is not necessarily, however, referable to a recognised botanical species. It is essentially the equivalent of the botanical variety except in respect to its origin
</blockquote>

== Usage ==

=== In botany ===
In botanical literature, the word ''cultigen'' is generally used to denote a plant that, like the [[common wheat|bread wheat]] (''Triticum aestivum''), is of unknown origin or presumed to be an ancient human selection. Plants like bread wheat have been given [[binomial nomenclature|binomial]]s according to the ''Botanical Code'' and therefore have names with the same form as those of plant species that occur naturally in the wild, but it is not necessary for a cultigen to have a species name or to have the biological characteristics that distinguish a [[Species problem|species]]. Cultigens can have names at any of various other ranks, including cultivar names, names in the categories of [[Grex (horticulture)|grex]] and [[Cultivar group|group]], [[variety (botany)|variety names]], and [[forma (botany)|forma names]], or they may be plants that have been altered by humans (including [[Genetically modified organism|genetically modified]] plants) but which have not been given formal names.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Spencer |first1=Roger |title=Plant Names: A Guide to Botanical Nomenclature |last2=Cross |first2=Robert |last3=Lumley |first3=Peter |publisher=[[CSIRO Publishing]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-643-09440-6 |location=Collingwood, Australia |pages=47 |language=en}}</ref>

=== In horticulture ===
In 1918, L.H. Bailey distinguished native plants from those originating in cultivation by designating the former as indigens (indigenous or native to the region) and the latter as cultigens. At the same time, he proposed the term ''cultivar'' to distinguish varieties originating in cultivation from botanical varieties known first in the wild.<ref>Lawrence, George H. M. 1953. "Cultivar, Distinguished from Variety". ''Baileya'' '''1''': 19–20.</ref> In 1953, the first ''International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants'' was published, in which Bailey's term ''cultivar'' was introduced. In the same year, the eponymous journal commemorating the work of Bailey (who died in 1954), ''Baileya'', was published. In the first volume of ''Baileya'' George Lawrence, taxonomist and colleague of Bailey, wrote a short article on the distinction between the new terms ''cultivar'' and ''variety'', and to clarify the term ''taxon'', which had been introduced by German biologist Meyer in the 1920s. He opens the article: 

In horticulture, the definitions and uses of the terms ''cultigen'' and ''cultivar'' have varied, and a wider use of the term ''cultigen'' has been proposed.<ref name="spencer" /> The definition given in the Botanical Glossary of ''The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening'' defines a cultigen as "a plant found only in cultivation or in the wild having escaped from cultivation; included here are many hybrids and cultivars".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Huxley |first=Anthony |title=The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening |publisher=[[Macmillan Press]] |others=Contributed by the [[Royal Horticultural Society]] |year=1992 |isbn=9781561590018 |editor-last=Griffiths |editor-first=Mark |volume=4 |location=Macmillan, London |language=en}}</ref> The ''Cultivated Plant Code'' states that cultigens are "maintained as recognisable entities solely by continued propagation"<ref name="ICNCP" /> and thus would not include plants that have evolved after escape from cultivation.

Recent usage in horticulture has maintained a distinction between ''cultigen'' and ''cultivar'' while allowing the inclusion of cultivars within the definition of ''cultigen''. ''Cultigen'' is a general-purpose term encompassing plants with cultivar names and others as well, while ''cultivar'' is a formal category in the ICNCP. The definition refers to a "deliberate" (long-term propagation) selection of particular plant characteristics that are not exhibited by a plant's wild counterparts. Occasionally, cultigens escape from cultivation and go into the wild, where they breed with indigenous plants. Selections may be made from the progeny in the wild and brought back into cultivation where they are used for breeding, and the results of the breeding again escape into the wild to breed with indigenous plants; an example of this is the plant ''[[Lantana]].''{{Citation needed paragraph|date=April 2024}}

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Domestication of plants]]
* [[Human impact on the environment]]
* [[Indigen]]
* [[Liberty Hyde Bailey]]
* [[Artificial selection]]
* [[Binomial nomenclature]]
* [[Cultivar]]
* [[Cultivated plant taxonomy]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

=== Footnotes ===
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal
  | last1    = Spencer
  | first1   = Roger D.
  | last2   = Cross
  | first2  = Robert G.
  | year    = 2007
  | title   = The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), and the cultigen
  | journal = [[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]]
  | volume  = 56
  | pages    = 938–940
  | issue   = 3
  | doi    = 10.2307/25065875
  | jstor = 25065875
 }}
* {{Cite book
  | last1      = Spencer
  | first1     = Roger
  | last2     = Cross
  | first2    = Robert
  | last3     = Lumley
  | first3    = Peter
  | year      = 2007
  | title     = Plant names: a guide to botanical nomenclature. (3rd ed.)
  | location=Collingwood, Australia
  | publisher = CSIRO Publishing (also Earthscan, UK.)
  | isbn      = 978-0-643-09440-6
  }}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.actahort.org/books/799/799_23.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426195640/http://www.actahort.org/books/799/799_23.htm |date=2021-04-26 }} Proposal of the term cultigen at the V International Symposium on the Taxonomy of Cultivated Plants 2008
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070116021210/http://www.ishs.org/icra/index.htm] International Society for Horticultural Science (includes links to the ''Botanical Code'', ''Cultivated Plant Code'' and web sites of ''International Cultivar Registration Authorities''). Retrieved 2009-09-16.

{{botany}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cultivars]]
[[Category:Botanical nomenclature]]
[[Category:Crops]]
[[Category:Domesticated plants]]
[[Category:Forest management]]
[[Category:Horticulture]]
[[Category:Plant breeding]]