Anyone can make up a name for their plant and start selling it if they want. But the ICRA system exists to make the whole process more organised and systematic, and easier for everyone to benefit from. If you make a new cultivar, you can register it and the ICRA will help you:
- Make sure the name you choose follows the rules.
- Publish your name so that it becomes established and official, and no-one can override it later.
- Keep a permanent archive of information about your plant, so that anyone in the future can find out about it.
This entire process is free and has nothing to do with money, trademarks, or patents. The information is freely publicly available for anyone to benefit from. And people creating new cultivars get help to publish and document them. Everybody wins!
Are you trying to get a plant named which you didn’t create or introduce? If so, check out this article which describes the process for mystery plants. If you created or dicsovered a new plant yourself, read on for information on how to register.
Get started
To register a new cultivar, there are some things you need to consider in preparation. If you’re not sure about anything, feel free to get in touch by emailing hello@tradescantia.uk and I can walk you through the whole process (this isn’t my full-time job, so my replies may take a few weeks).
- Is your cultivar definitely new? Can you explain objectively how to distinguish it from other similar cultivars that already exist? Be particularly mindful of the fact that tradescantias can change their appearance dramatically in different conditions, and something that seems to be a new sport may be within the natural variation of an existing cultivar.
- Decide what name you want to give to the cultivar. I’ll check it to make sure it follows the rules, which you can read in full here, or a summary here.
- Gather together information about where your cultivar came from. Who bred or found it? Who chose the name? And who introduced it into cultivation by selling or distributing it?
- Take lots of quality photos of the plant, making sure to show any characteristics that make it unique. The best photos are taken in natural light and unedited with no filters or collages. Be aware that when you submit photos with registration, you must give permission to publish them online and in hardcopy with credit to you (you can add a watermark if you want to).
- It’s a good idea (but not required) to provide a sample of the plant for documentation. Ideally this would be a fresh, live specimen to compare to other living plants of similar cultivars in order to describe it. I’ll then use it to make a herbarium specimen to define a nomenclatural standard for the cultivar.
- I’ll publish and formally establish your cultivar after you register it, but this might take some time. If you want to be sure your name gets priority, you may want to publish it yourself immediately after registering.
- Be aware that your name and full address will be permanently stored in the private cultivar register, along with the names and addresses of anyone else involved with the cultivar. Names, cities, and countries will be published with registration.
Once you’re ready, you can fill in the registration form online:
I’ll then process the form and get in touch to arrange delivery of a plant sample if you’re sending one. If there are any problems I’ll explain any changes you need to make. If everything is fine, I’ll officially register the cultivar (which may take a few months), publish it at the next opportunity, and add it to the checklist permanently.