International Cultivar Registration Authority

An International Cultivar Registration Authority ( ICRA for short ) is a body appointed by the International Society for Horticultural Science that oversees compliance with the International Code of the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), which regulates the uniform naming of cultivated plant varieties .

job

Cultivated plants should be clearly identifiable by their names; this requires communication between breeders , gardeners and plant lovers, even across national and linguistic borders. This is what the ICRAs are supposed to do.

If a proposal for a new name is submitted, the responsible ICRA will check whether the new name has already been used and whether it complies with the rules of the ICNCP. At the end of the process, the applicant will get a decision on the name. Examples of ICRAS are:

• The Royal Horticultural Society for Lilies
• The International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) for Carnivorous Plants
• The American Violet Society (AVS) for pansies

Web links

• Explanations on International Cultivar Registration Authorities (ICRAs)
• List of all ICRAs