A plant that has been bred or modified by humans through cultivation and no longer exists in the wild in its original form.
From 'cult' (cultivation) plus '-igen' (produced by/origin), coined by botanists in the early 20th century. Describes organisms whose existence depends on human agricultural intervention.
Most of what we eat are cultigens—bread wheat, corn, bananas—they're so changed by humans they're basically our creations, showing how thoroughly we've rewritten plant evolution!
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