nothospecies

English

WOTD – 22 September 2015

Etymology

From notho- +‎ species.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnɒθəʊˌspiːʃiz/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)

Noun

nothospecies (plural nothospecies)

(botany) A hybrid which is formed by direct hybridization of two species, not other hybrids.
- 1999, Günter Staudt, “Systematics and Geographic Distribution of the American Strawberry Species: Taxonomic Studies in the Genus Fragaria (Rosaceae: Potentilleae)”, in Botany‎^[1], volume 81, University of California Press, page 32:
  The fourth species, the nothospecies Fragaria × ananassa, was originally established for the hybrids F. chiloensis × F. virginiana, which had originated under cultivation and are known as the large-fruited garden strawberries. When the hybrid populations in the coastal regions of northwestern North America were identified as introgressants of the same two octoploid species, they were combined with the cultivated garden strawberries into the nothospecies F. ×ananassa.
- 2004, David M. Spooner, Wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota; Solanaceae) of North and Central America‎^[2], page 17:
  For our treatment we designate hybrid species (nothospecies) by prefix with a multiplication sign placed flush with the species epithet (×; Art H.1.1; H.3A.1 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, Greuter et al. 2000) only if they are of restricted distribution and are sympatric with their putative parents.
- 2011, Arthur Haines, New England Wild Flower Society's Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native an Naturalized Higher Vascular Plants of New England‎^[3], page xvi:
  The number that precedes each species is presented to help determine parentage of nothospecies (i.e., hybrids). Therefore, all nothospecies included in the manual are provided with a numeric formula (e.g., 1 × 3) in addition to the scientific name (when present).

Usage notes

A nothospecies may be indicated by a multiplication symbol (×) between the parents' binomial species names (when both parent species are known), or by the symbol placed flush with the specific epithet in a binomial name.