Darkest Browns

[Charlie]

The history of hibiscus nomenclature is debated sometimes but the basic facts are not in dispute. By the 1950's everyone involved in collecting and showing hibiscus realized that there was a big need for a nomenclature that would keep the many names straight and prevent duplication. The American Hibiscus Society was established at that time with the primary goal being to establish the nomenclature and also to promote hibiscus growing. The first database of names was published shortly thereafter.

Later on the Australian hibiscus growers wanted to build and keep their own nomenclature due to the better efficiency of local collection of new hibiscus names at shows, etc. According to some Au sources they asked for and received permission to use the American nomenclature as their base, and then began adding their own names. In the 70's someone in Australia applied with a Swiss based authority that oversees nomenclatures for various plant species to become the world Registrar for hibiscus names. No one in the USA was aware of this development so there was no buy-in by the American hibiscus community for this "World Registrar".

For the last 40 years 2 nomenclatures have been kept - the US and the one in Oz. They have occasionally swapped data so you will find some cvs from both areas in each nomenclature. An attempt was made about 10 years ago to force the US to recognize the Oz Registrar as the sole authority for hibiscus nomenclature but this was a fiasco and only served to alienate the Americans further. Since then new people have become involved in Oz and some talks have been held that were less acrimonious. Even so the AmHS decided to continue to maintain their own nomenclature but to cooperate with data sharing with the Aust nomenclature.

The IHS is a relatively new organization and when the leaders became interested in maintaining an online, searchable database they made an agreement with the AustralianHS to use their nomenclature. When one submits info about a new cv on the IHS web site the info is automatically emailed to the Australian Registrar and is entered in the Australian database otherwise known as the Checklist.

So yes, there is a US database of hibiscus names, and it is apparently about to be released in new form with lots of new cultivars entered into it. LSU (Louisiana State University) has a contract with the AmHS to maintain the database. It remains to be seen how well and how timely they will be in making the info available.

According to Sam Andrews, former Pres of the AmHS and the person who made the deal with LSU, "Louisiana State University's Burden Agricultural Center has been designing
and will permanently host our new American Hibiscus Society Nomenclature
website once it launches later this summer. Keeping this in mind, we are ready to begin loading cultivar photos that the Nomenclature Committee will link to the correct cultivar record through a
manual matching process over the next few weeks."

Charlie

[Nievesgirl]

The history of hibiscus nomenclature is debated sometimes but the basic facts are not in dispute. By the 1950's everyone involved in collecting and showing hibiscus realized that there was a big need for a nomenclature that would keep the many names straight and prevent duplication. The American Hibiscus Society was established at that time with the primary goal being to establish the nomenclature and also to promote hibiscus growing. The first database of names was published shortly thereafter.

Later on the Australian hibiscus growers wanted to build and keep their own nomenclature due to the better efficiency of local collection of new hibiscus names at shows, etc. According to some Au sources they asked for and received permission to use the American nomenclature as their base, and then began adding their own names. In the 70's someone in Australia applied with a Swiss based authority that oversees nomenclatures for various plant species to become the world Registrar for hibiscus names. No one in the USA was aware of this development so there was no buy-in by the American hibiscus community for this "World Registrar".

For the last 40 years 2 nomenclatures have been kept - the US and the one in Oz. They have occasionally swapped data so you will find some cvs from both areas in each nomenclature. An attempt was made about 10 years ago to force the US to recognize the Oz Registrar as the sole authority for hibiscus nomenclature but this was a fiasco and only served to alienate the Americans further. Since then new people have become involved in Oz and some talks have been held that were less acrimonious. Even so the AmHS decided to continue to maintain their own nomenclature but to cooperate with data sharing with the Aust nomenclature.

The IHS is a relatively new organization and when the leaders became interested in maintaining an online, searchable database they made an agreement with the AustralianHS to use their nomenclature. When one submits info about a new cv on the IHS web site the info is automatically emailed to the Australian Registrar and is entered in the Australian database otherwise known as the Checklist.

So yes, there is a US database of hibiscus names, and it is apparently about to be released in new form with lots of new cultivars entered into it. LSU (Louisiana State University) has a contract with the AmHS to maintain the database. It remains to be seen how well and how timely they will be in making the info available.

According to Sam Andrews, former Pres of the AmHS and the person who made the deal with LSU, "Louisiana State University's Burden Agricultural Center has been designing
and will permanently host our new American Hibiscus Society Nomenclature
website once it launches later this summer. Keeping this in mind, we are ready to begin loading cultivar photos that the Nomenclature Committee will link to the correct cultivar record through a
manual matching process over the next few weeks."

Charlie

thanks for all of that info Charlie , I seen the AU data base and of course the IHS but never the american one. I just thought we use the AU one since its states world register. I can not wait for the AHS data base to be up and running. Please keep us update or let us know when its ready !

[helixturnhelix]

Chris,

I don't know about Burnt Saffron yet. I have a few 8 inch pots of it growing for evaluation but they are among many others at the moment. When they start blooming I will spot them again and take a good look. Yes, Blue Denim is 08-0136. A similar one is 08-0131 but it does not set seed so is not given much attention yet.

Charlie

It would be interesting to see if Bunt Saffron is a better grower than Black dragon.  I was thinking about another interesting cross to do between Black dragon and Dragon's heart.  They are both offspring of Dragons Breath, which have a very dark color.  It would be interesting to see if their offspring are dark as well because most likely their dark gene is from the same source, Dragons breath. 

It is a good thing that Blue Denium sets seed because I am sure we will be seeing some of its offspring in the next few years.  It might be interesting to see if it is crossed with gator pride the offspring would look something like when GP was crossed with blue ballerina.  Perhaps you could get a totally solid blue flower from that cross!  At anyrate I am pretty excited for the possibilities of that cv.   

-Chris