Botanical terms:

It's easy to get lost in all of these plant names; , family, species, genus,
variety, cultivar, hybrid, etc. The names given to plants usually come from
botanists who discovered them. The name often depends on the color of the
plant, its flower or its foliage, its particular form or its unique habit or its
properties to attract insects.
In order to find your way around, it is useful to know the classification system for the names of
plants since there are more than 600 species of plants on our earth.
The distinction between family, genus and species is based on the theory of evolution.
The family encompasses the genera that have common genes and traits as they originate from
same parents; which therefore have the most similarities between them. In plants, the
terminology of families ends with the suffix "acées" (or in Latin "acaea"). For example: the crabapple (Malus
sp.), spirea (Spiraea sp.), cinquefoil (Potentilla sp.), cherry (Prunus sp.) and rose
(Rosa sp.) Are part of the Rosaceae family.
Gender is the first term or word in the nomenclature. It includes all
species of a plant. For example, all kinds of spirea are grouped together under the
term of Spiraea in Latin.
Species is the second word in the nomenclature and is written in lowercase and Latin. He
differentiates individuals from the same group among themselves. Plants of this same group
can reproduce with each other, but usually not with members of another
species. The genetic characteristics unique to this species are reproduced from
generation to generation by their seeds.

Examples: Spiraea latifolia, Large-leaved Spirea
Spiraea japonica, Japanese spirea
Spiraea thunbergii, Thunberg Spirea
The term variety comes to differentiate the plants of the same species. Traits
characteristics of this plant can be reproduced from one generation to another by
seeds.
The word cultivar is the result of hybridization, selection or mutation.
Unlike a variety, a cultivar cannot pass on its characteristics.
by seed. A cultivar must be reproduced vegetatively (eg cuttings). A
variety or cultivar must be written in quotation marks and capitalized.

Examples:
Spiraea japonica "Flaming Mound", Spirea of ​​Japan "Flaming Mound"
Spiraea japonicaz "Anthony Waterer", Japanese Spirea "Anthony Waterer"
Spiraea japonica "Neon Flash", Japanese Spirea "Neon Flash"
A hybrid is the result of a cross between two plants of the same genus or
of the same species. Hybridizations are natural or man-made by
controlled pollination. In order to identify the hybridization an "x" will be put in front of the
genus for genus hybridization or ahead of the species for species hybridization.

Examples:
Spiraea x arguta (hybridization of Spiraea japonica x Spiraea albiflora)
Spiraea x vanhouttei (hybridization of Spiraea trilobata x Spiraea cantoniensis).

Botanical terms