Australian Cultivar Registration Authority

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The ACRA logo ACRA-logo.png
The ACRA logo

The Australian Cultivar Registration Authority (ACRA) is the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) for Australian plant genera, excluding those genera or groups for which other ICRAs have been appointed. [1]

An International Cultivation Registration Authority (ICRA) is an organization responsible for ensuring that the name of plant cultivars and cultivar groups are defined and not duplicated.

It is a committee of representatives of each state's botanic gardens, the Society for Growing Australian Plants, and the Nursery Industry Association of Australia. [2] [3]

Botanical garden well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names

A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation and display of a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. It may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and other succulent plants, herb gardens, plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, shadehouses, again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants, or other exotic plants. Visitor services at a botanical garden might include tours, educational displays, art exhibitions, book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances, and other entertainment.

Founded in 1963, it is responsible for the registration and publication of cultivar names of Australian native plants, in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.

Cultivar plant or grouping of plants selected for desirable characteristics

The term cultivar most commonly refers to an assemblage of plants selected for desirable characters that are maintained during propagation. More generally, cultivar refers to the most basic classification category of cultivated plants in the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). Most cultivars arose in cultivation, but a few are special selections from the wild.

The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), also known as the Cultivated Plant Code, is a guide to the rules and regulations for naming cultigens, plants whose origin or selection is primarily due to intentional human activity. Cultigens under the purview of the ICNCP include cultivars, Groups, and grexes. All organisms traditionally considered to be plants are included. Taxa that receive a name under the ICNCP will also be included within taxa named under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, for example, a cultivar is a member of a species.

It also advises on plant breeders rights, and registers plant varieties declared under the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994. [2] [4]

Plant variety is a legal term, following the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Convention. Recognition of a cultivated plant as a "variety" in this particular sense provides its breeder with some legal protection, so-called plant breeders' rights, depending to some extent on the internal legislation of the UPOV signatory countries, such as the Plant Variety Protection Act in the US.

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References

  1. "ICRA - AUSTRALIAN CULTIVAR REGISTRATION AUTHORITY (ACRA)". www.ishs.org.
  2. 1 2 "Australian Cultivar Registration Authority" . Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  3. Australian Cultivar Registration Authority (1992), List of registered cultivars as at 29 April 1992, Australian Cultivar Registration Authority, retrieved 5 February 2016
  4. Young, D; Australia. Department of the Capital Territory; Canberra Botanic Gardens (1976), Australian Cultivar Registration Authority, Dept. of the Interior, retrieved 5 February 2016