Rachel - I understand where you're coming from concerning terminology. For me it's pronunciation that I get hung up on.

Is it pronounced celaDINE or celaDEAN?

Kauka Wilder.. is it CaCa or call-ka?

And Moragne - I thought it was Mor-rain but I heard someone say Mor-rain-ie.

Kimo - Chemo or Kim-o?

Drives me nuts! LOL

LOL, Yes, I have that problem too Mona.
I guess that's the only good thing about not having a bunch of plumie-lovers who live nearby. At least I don't sound like an idiot when I say Moragne is "Moor-Ahhg-knee".
Well... maybe this is the joy of learning ;)

And I forgot the link above, I think. Find it below.

Rachel

Here is a link that might be useful: Plumeria... NOT cultivars...

Lol Moonie. I never know how to pronounce them either. So hopefully the experts here can set us straight.

1. Sell uh dine
2. Caw oooh kuh (in hawaiian a=uh/above; e=bet; i=ee/see; o=o/toe; u=oo/moon; the stressed vowels a=far and e=ay/pay. dipthongs or two vowels together stree the first letter with a longer sound and the second with a short sound. that is the basics)
3. More ray knee (famous grower from Kauai)
4. Key moh (hawaiian name for Jim, James, Jimmy)
hope this helps- Bill (Pila)

Based on the PSA and UH they use the word/term "Cultivar" to denote individual plumeria varieties like Duke, Kimo, Daisy WIlcox. I listed a link to a PDF that talks about the hundreds of plumeria cultivars in Hawaii

Copy and paste as GW will not let me attach link.

www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/OF-31.pdf

I'm not a botanist, but I think cultivar is proably OK, since all it really means is cultivated variety. Wiki says:

A cultivar is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable characteristics that can be maintained by propagation (in plumerias case this would be cuttings, grafting, since they don't come true from seed).

You could also refer to them as hybrids too I suppose.

On Wiki there's also a lengthy discussion of 'cultigens' that I have not have time to read.

I was going to add that 'cultivar' also includes plants that were 'discovered in nature' (not man-made) that have special characteristics that make them desireable for cultivation. These could be either naturally-occurring hybrids, or just simply variations within a species. Or they may be plants that are native to a special area of the world that exhibit unique characteristics. I think of certain species of evergreen oak in Korea, for example, that seem to exhibit unusual hardiness compared to the same species in China (provenance).

In either case, I think the term 'cultivar' is pretty broad.

The term 'cultigen' is not heard as often. This term seems to apply more specifically to 'man-made' selections for agricultural and commercial purposes. These include man-made hybrids, propagation of sports, chimeras, genetically-altered plants, etc.

The term 'indigens' can be used to refer to plants discovered in the wild.

It all gets quite esoteric. LOL!

"I have been using the term "cultivar" to differentiate between, say, a Celadine and a Thumbalina. I was searching around the forum and ran into an old post where kimisdad clarified that these different plumeria are NOT cultivars, as sexual reproduction does not result in the same plant."

One more thing....

My understanding is that cultivars do not necessarily need to be able to be propagated true-to-type by sexual reproductions (pollination). But they must be able to be either grafted, rooted, or propagated in such a way that all the characteristics are genetically maintained (like a clone). So kimisdad's definition of 'cultivar' seems to be flawed based upon what I have read.

Thanks, Bill.

Mona (monkey, or so I've heard LOL)