Previous | Next

Cultivar is short for the phrase "cultivated variety."

It's a variety of plant that can only maintain its unique characteristics when bred by man. A cultivar will always be named and recognized by horticultural groups; some may even be patented.

Apple trees are a good example -- though the species as a whole would continue without us, without generations of farmers reproducing the particular types of apple trees, those particular types would have long ago died out. Each type of apple is a cultivar, because apples will not reproduce true to seed. Many olive trees are also cultivars. Corn is as well.

The opposite of a cultivar is a "variety" -- a plant variety that occurred in nature and could maintain its characteristics even if we weren't around to look after it.

Most people outside of horticultural circles, however, will likely just refer to both cultivars and varieties as "varieties."

Also called:

Other entries for: Technical Terms

Accolade, Acetic Acid, Air-Layered, Alliumophobia, Alpha Amylase, Alum, Alveograph, Ascorbic Acid, Best Before Dates, Biologique, Butyric Acid, Carbonic Acid, Carnauba Wax, Chocolate Bloom, Collops, Cracker Barrel, Cucina Casalinga, Cultivar, Deipnophobia, Dioecious Plants, Du Jour, Dunking, Etiolation, EU Designations, F1, Firkin, Free-Range Chickens, Free-Range Total Freedom, French Revolutionary Calendar, Gastrique, Gâte-sauce, Gomme Arabique, Hybrid, Invaiatura, Kosher, Lachanophobia, Lime (Chemical), Listeria, Lye, Mageirocophobia, Maillard Reaction, Open Pollinated, Ostraconophobia, Oxalic Acid, Pack Date, Pavé, Phosphoric Acid, Plant Variety Protection, Pome, Potassium Nitrite, Potluck Suppers, Punnet, Quinine, Rifilature, Scald (Fruit), Sell-By Dates, Sodium Nitrite, Stufatura, Sunday Roast, Traditional Free-Range, Turophile, Use-By Dates, Yatai, Ye Shi, Yearling, Yuuki