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We have
created an individual database search page
for each of the over 15,100 hosta names.
There is an index page by alphabetical order
linking to all the pages. |
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Some hostas have been heavily used as
breeding plants and are in the "Background"
of dozens and even hundreds of named hosta
cultivars.
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If you are
interested specifically in hosta species, we
have an index page that will lead you to the
background listings for all of the 42
recognized species as well as to many forms
and naturally occurring varieties of the
species. |
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Some hosta
experts or references claim that cultivar
"A" is the same as cultivar "B". Our
interpretation is that they mean that the
physical traits of the two plants are
exactly the same. Often this is based on
visual observation or it may come from
historical information known to the expert.
Of course, this is different from the
category "Similar Looking" in which
cultivars may share certain physical traits
but not others. |
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In this case,
different plants have the same
name. This usually occurs because two or
more originators are unaware that the
other(s) have given the same name to their
cultivar(s). If one of the plants is
registered with The American Hosta Society,
it becomes the "official" plant of that name
and the others should be renamed to avoid
confusion. |
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This is the
situation where the same plant has
been known by different names.
Sometimes a plant has been renamed by the
originator or mistakenly listed in
references or catalogs.
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At times, rather than give the actual
parent plant, originators will cite what is
called a "complex cross" instead. This would
be something like reporting [('Blue Angel' ×
'Elegans') × ('Sagae' ×
'Halcyon')] as the pod parent. These plants are actually
the new cultivar's maternal grandparents and would be
considered part of the plant's "background". |
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Hybridizers
often sow dozens of seeds from the same pod
and grow them on as seedlings. Normally,
they may find one seedling worth naming but
more likely, they will discard the entire
group as unworthy. In rare cases, two or
more seedlings are selected for
introduction. Tissue culture propagations
produce hundreds of new individuals from the
one mother plant. Again, in rare cases two
or more of these sports will mutate into
plants worthy of naming. In both cases,
these would be called sibling plants. |
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"Same As"
plants are identical. Similar Looking hostas
share several traits in common but are
not identical. The color of the margins
may vary or the size of the variegation is
slightly different or one plant flowers
differently from the other. |
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This group
includes examples where two or more
different plants have names that are
similar. 'Maggie's Angel' and 'Margie's
Angel' or 'Maraschino Cherry' and
'Maraschino Cherry Twist' would be examples. |
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If the
parents of a particular hosta are unknown,
hostaphiles will often find more general
descriptive terms to describe it. One of
these is to call it a certain "Type" hosta
assigned to one of the more well known
cultivars or species. Many large, blue-green
hostas are said to be H. 'Sieboldiana'-type
plants for example. |
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Often
when the specific parentage of a hosta is unknown,
people will say that by its appearance, it must have
Hosta XYZ in its background. At times, rather than give
the actual parent plant, originators will cite what is
called a "complex cross" instead. This would be
something like reporting [('Blue Angel' × 'Elegans') × ('Sagae' ×
'Halcyon')] as the pod parent. These plants are actually
the new cultivar's maternal grandparents and would be
considered part of the plant's "background". 
