A plant variety that has been developed and maintained through cultivation, often selected for specific desirable traits. Cultivars are typically propagated vegetatively to maintain their characteristics.
Portmanteau of 'cultivated variety,' coined in 1923 by botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey. The term distinguishes human-selected plant varieties from naturally occurring botanical varieties.
Most of the fruits and vegetables in your kitchen are cultivars - the result of thousands of years of human selection! A wild apple is tiny and sour, but through careful breeding, we've created hundreds of cultivars like Honeycrisp and Granny Smith, each with unique flavors and growing requirements.
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