THE CROP CONCEPT IN CULTONOMIC CLASSIFICATION

In the 1995 International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) the cultivar and cultivar-group are used as the main categories to classify cultivated plants. In order to link the cultonomic classification to the taxonomic (botanical) classification it might be desirable to indicate to what botanical category the cultivated plants are to be assigned. This link between cultonomy and taxonomy is best established at a level above the cultivar-group. The sum total of cultivar-groups constitutes the crop, and it is suggested to recognize the crop as a culton and use it to define the relationship between groups of cultivated plants and the categories of the botanical classification governed by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). The crop category is also the logical choice to function as denomination class. By applying the crop concept the dependence of classification and nomenclature of cultivated plants on botanical classification and nomenclature with its implicit threat of instability is reduced.