International Poplar Commission

Subcommittee on Nomenclature and Registration

Officers of the Subcommittee on Nomenclature and Registration: 

Report from 23rd Session

The Sub-Committee remains the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) for the genus Populus. As such the IPC maintains the Register. This entails collection of information on new cultivars and checking congruence with nomenclature rules. The Register has been maintained by the Breeding and Selection Department, ISP-Casale Monferrato, Italy in close collaboration with the Working Party on Poplar and Willow Genetics, Conservation and Improvement. The current version of the Register is available at the IPC Web site www.fao.org/forestry/site/ipc

The aims of the Register are to:

• promote uniformity, accuracy and stability in the naming of cultivars;
• avoid possible sources of ambiguity in communications and records; and
• seek consensus among users.

Critical constraints identified to prevent the Subcommittee fulfilling its ICRA role effectively include:

Poplars

• Weakness of the structure of the Sub-Committee with the workload falling on a few individuals;
• Lack of awareness of the scope and importance of Registration of cultivar names among breeders, nurserymen and even National Poplar Commissions or other authorities that oversee the trade of propagation material; and
• As a consequence there have been difficulties in keeping the Register updated. The National Reports to the IPC are proof that many cultivars are reported as being widely planted but not listed in the Register.

Willows

• No ICRA has been appointed by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS);
• Salix is not included in legislation that, in some parts of the world (e.g. EU), regulate the trade of forest propagation material;
• Thus far, commercial breeders do not appreciated the advantages of a registration procedures and consider it bureaucratic;
• The huge number of species (10 times that of Populus), broader geographic distribution and immense possibilities of interspecific crossing make the possibility of mis-identification very high; and
• The growing interest of commercial trade in willows, due to their use in short rotation forestry for the production of energy, landscaping, phytoremediation and restoration of degraded lands poses an increasing risk of complete loss of control of cultivar identity.

 Programme of action for 2004-2008: 

• Reinforce the Sub-Committee by re-constituting a network of contact persons in as many countries as possible;
• Raise awareness of the different actors, starting with the National Poplar Commissions and other Authorities. The network of contact persons will be essential as the official channels failed to produce tangible results. A new attempt will be made to approach the National Poplar Commissions through the FAO Secretariat;
• The Populus Register will be updated in two ways:
  • Forms and guidelines appearing on the IPC website will be checked against the current edition of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, and in the future, against the new edition (expected in 2009), and amended accordingly;
  • Literature and other reports will be scanned in order to locate cultivars that are not listed in the Register and seek information on them;
• The IPC will apply to the ISHS to be appointed ICRA for the genus Salix and the first steps of the establishment of a Register will be initiated that is the compilation of a checklist of names for the possible identification of homonyms, synonyms, trade designation, conserved epithets, unacceptable names, etc;
• Provided volunteers are forthcoming, a standard portfolio of photos of registered cultivars will be prepared; and
• Together with the Working Party on Genetics, Conservation and Improvement, a database and living gene bank of registered cultivars will be prepared.

Recommendations from the Subcommittee are as follows: 

• The IPC give full support to the establishment of a Register for the genus Salix and the Secretariat submit an application to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) to be appointed as the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA).
• The “Dichotomous Key for Nursery Identification of the Main Poplar Clones Cultivated in Europe” should be translated into English (and possibly other languages) and be published as a Working Paper by the Secretariat and posted on the IPC website. 

Report from 22nd Session

The Sub-committee remains the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) for the genus Populus. As such the IPC maintains the Register. This entails collection of information on new cultivars and checking congruence with nomenclature rules. The Register has been maintained by the Breeding and Selection Department, ISP-Casale Monferrato, Italy in close collaboration with the Working Party on Genetics, Conservation and Improvement.

The aims of the Register are to:

• Promote uniformity, accuracy and stability in the naming of cultivars;
• Avoid possible sources of ambiguity in communications and records; and
• Seek consensus among users.

Achievements from 2000-2004:

• 
  Formal recognition of the IPC as the ICRA for genus Populus and the pro-tempore Chairman of the Sub-committee was recognized as the Registrar;
• Activities of the Sub-committee were advised to National Poplar Commissions, Officers of the Working Parties, members of the Executive Committee, Professional Organizations and Research Institutes;
• A network of contact persons was established in 34 countries;
• Existing records were reviewed and enlarged to include Belgian, Chinese and Iranian cultivars;
• Preliminary contacts were made with Swedish Willow specialists to explore the possibility of establishing the IPC as ICRA for the genus Salix.

The results of a SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of the current situation included: 

The agreed programme of work 2005-2008 included:

• Database and living gene bank of registered cultivars on line to network with IPC member countries, by September 2006 - Responsibility of Stefano Bisoffi, Brian Stanton and Sarah Hurst;
• Standard portfolio of pictures of registered cultivars on line, linked to the Register, to assist in identification of poplar cultivars, by September 2008 - Responsibility of Stefano Bisoffi, Sven de Vries and Martin Weih;
• Feasibility study to explore the opportunities, constraints and resources to establish a Register for the genus Salix and possibility of IPC to become ICRA for Salix, by September 2006 - Responsibility of Stefano Bisoffi; and
• Assist in maintenance and update of the IPC website, particularly on matters relating to the Sub-committee, 2004-2008 - Responsibility of Gaetano Castro (ISP-Italy) and Magnus Grylle (FAO).

The recommendations from the Sub-Committee for Nomenclature and Registration were as follows:

• Raise the awareness of the National Poplar Commissions, National Statutory Plant Registration Authorities, Professional Organizations and Research Institutions on the need for a reliable nomenclatural system for poplars;
• Integrate molecular tools and morphological analysis into a coherent identification system; and

• Make standard, reproducible and reliable methods available to a broad range of clients (nurserymen, trade control authorities etc).

Reports of previous Sessions

The success of poplar cultivation depends largely on the appropriate choice of cultivars. Thus poplar breeders are engaged in research leading to the creation of new cultivars with the properties of fast growth, superior wood properties and the greatest possible resistance to pests and diseases. In this way, the number of usable cultivars has been gradually increasing. It therefore became necessary to identify them correctly and as precisely as possible, to avoid possible confusion and to facilitate exchanges among users regardless of whether or not such exchanges were on a commercial basis.

At its seventh session in 1953, the IPC decided to set up a subcommittee of the Executive Committee on nomenclature and registration with responsibility for investigating the best way of establishing a register of poplar names by adapting the nomenclature used by IPC to the rules on nomenclature of cultivated plants. This job became of special importance as a result of the designation of IPC as the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA), the official body for the registration of forest cultivars of the genus Populus in 1958.

ICRA is an organization, appointed by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), charged with the registration of cultivars for a certain taxon. All individuals or institutions that wish to release a new cultivar (including clones) belonging to the genus Populus (poplars, cottonwoods and aspens) must submit an application providing essential information on the origin, a synthetic description and a proposed denomination (epithet). Registration is the acceptance of an epithet and the inclusion of that epithet in a register with details of the date and place of establishment, when the information is available. Trade designations and trade marks (with the consent of the owner) may also be recorded if they are known to have been used as marketing devices, but they are not valid cultivar epithets.

An ICRA does not have the power to enforce the use of officially approved epithets. The need for clarity and uniformity of rules must be felt as a necessity by breeders and public and private research and commercial organizations.

Among the functions of the IPC as an ICRA for the genus Populus are the following:

• To appoint a registrar to the Subcommittee on Nomenclature and Registration of IPC, please send enquiries and applications to:

Prof. Julia KUZOVKINA (Chair)
University of Connecticut
Storrs-Mansfield, CT 06269
United States of America
Tel: (1-419) 5313693
E-mail: jkuzovkina@uconn.edu

copied to:

Dr. Lorenzo VIETTO (Technical Secretary)
CRA, Unità di Ricerca per le Produzioni Legnose Fuori Foresta
Strada Frassineto 35
15033 Casale Monferrato (AL)
Italy
Tel: (39-0142) 330916
Fax: (39-0142) 55580
E-mail: Lorenzo.vietto@entecra.it

• To compile and publish a checklist of all known epithets and commercial synonyms and to publish a comprehensive International Register of Populus Cultivars. The first edition of the International Register of Populus Cultivars was published in 1992 (Viart, M., Presentation du Catalogue international des cultivars de Peuplier. In A. Padró Ed., Proceedings 19th Session of the International Poplar Commission, Zaragoza, 22-25 June, 1992, p. 49-105).
• To produce a Registration form.
• To accept for registration, new cultivars appropriately named following the rules of the Cultivated Plant Code and appropriately described in the above form, filled in by the originator of the cultivar or with his/her consent.
• To update, and if necessary amend, the register and reissue it periodically.
• To publicize the registration facilities to the widest appropriate audience.
• To cooperate with statutory plant registration authorities regarding poplar epithets.

It is not a function of an ICRA to conduct trials, to evaluate the cultural or ornamental merits of cultivars, or to evaluate distinctness from existing cultivars. Therefore, inclusion in the register is neither a guarantee of quality nor a certification of distinctness.

Even in the current version, the register is not complete and a considerable effort must be made in the near future for its improvement. Such a process will require both the active cooperation of all the national poplar commissions of the member countries of IPC and the involvement of institutions, research centres, breeders and scientists from all over the world. Through the effort of many people around the world, the International Register of Populus Cultivars will be improved as an essential reference for the whole poplar world.

The Subcommittee of the IPC Executive Committee on Nomenclature and Registration decided at its last meeting on the occasion of the twentieth session of IPC in 2000 that its activities in the immediate future should include:

• raising the awareness on the importance of the register among the national poplar commissions, statutory plant registration authorities, professional organizations, and research institutions with the most appropriate case-by-case approach.
• reinforcing the sub-committee with a network of contact persons, however informally established, that would act as a link between the Chairperson (who holds the responsibility for the maintenance of the register) and institutions/professionals of member and non-member countries. The first task for the network of contact persons would be to provide reliable information for filling the many gaps in the records of the database.
• launching a project for the coordination of living collections in order to ensure the maintenance of all the cultivars included in the register.
• launching a project for the establishment of a standard portfolio of pictures for each cultivar as an aid to approximate description and group identification.
• following the progress of molecular biology and related subjects on the development of means of identification (fingerprinting) of Populus cultivars.

Rules for nomenclature

• Rules for botanical taxa
• Rules for cultivars

Phases of the nomenclature process

How to register a cultivar

Glossary of selected terms

Registration form

International register of Populus cultivars