Register page
Great impetus was given to the concept of international registration procedures by the introduction of the International Code for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants, first published in 1953 by the Royal Horticultural Society, following the International Horticultural Congress in Stockholm in 1952. The importance of international registration was recognised in the 1958 Code. As a result the International Society for Horticultural Science established a Commission for Nomenclature and Registration. The Commission undertook responsibility for appointing International Registration Authorities, and encouraging their formation for a range of genera and groups of cultivated plants. A number of International Registers and checklists were already extant, notably the Narcissus Register, compiled by the Royal Horticultural Society, which has been maintained since the early days of the twentieth century. Such registers were, however, produced as a result of the initiative of individual organisations or specialist groups, without reference to one another. Only in the last ten years has a cohesive system of international registration been developed under the auspices of the ISHS.
The resurgence in the breeding of Camellia cultivars led to strenuous efforts between 1956 and 1980 to accumulate sufficient accurate information to produce an international register. This was a task made formidable, not only by the plethora of names already in circulation, but by the complexities resulting from equating the names applied to numerous Japanese and Chinese cultivars to camellias grown in other countries.
The initial investigations of Professor Waterhouse, Dr Philbrick, Charles Puddle, Albert Fendig and Thomas Savige proved invaluable in developing a basis for continuing efforts to produce this first International Camellia Register. It is an outstanding production and marks a major advance in work on International Registration of cultivar names. The advent of this remarkable Register is due largely to the dedication, enthusiasm and careful scholarship of Tom Savige, who became international registrar in 1980 on behalf of the International Camellia Society which, as IRA for the genus Camellia, had undertaken this daunting task.
The Register is not simply a list of names of Camellia cultivars with limited data on each. Each entry provides details of origin, history and synonymy of each cultivar, where known, as well as succinct descriptions. It is not, of course, an identification manual - this is not the aim or purpose of International Registers - but provides the most comprehensive and detailed list of nomenclaturally accurate names in the genus yet produced for all those interested in camellias, whether professional growers, horticultural scientists or amateur gardeners.
Research, extraction, evaluation and collation of the information used to produce the Register from numerous publications has been carried out by many contributors who have delved into literature dating back to the seventeenth century and beyond. Emphasis is placed on the importance of correct usage of the names that should properly be used for cultivars of Japanese and Chinese origin and, in addition to encompssing the 32,000 cultivar names, the Register lists the 9000 oriental cultivars included, in an appendix, giving their names in Chinese and kanji characters with their transliteration into the latin alphabet. This in itself is an invaluable contribution to stabilising cultivar names within the genus. I urge all camellia growers and breeders to this Register to ensure that the correct application and usage of cultivar names becomes established throughout the Camellia world. Co-operation by all who breed and sell camellias to ensure that the names of new cultivars are correctly registered is also essential to maintain the Register in future years.
I have no doubt that the International Camellia Register will become the essential reference work for all those interested in the genus.
In masterminding this outstanding publication Tom Savige has rendered a great service to the world of camellias. He is to be warmly congratulated on his remarkable achievement, producing order from the chaos of cultivar names within the genus, and setting a standard for the preparation and production of International Registers that will be difficult to emulate.
C.D. Brickell.
Chairman,
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE NOMENCLATURE
OF CULTIVATED PLANTS AND ISHS COMMISSION FOR
NOMENCLATURE AND REGISTRATION.
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