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The International Dianthus Register and Checklist

The twenty-fourth supplement to the second edition of the International Dianthus Register (1983) has just been published by the Royal Horticultural Society. It can be obtained either from The Wisley Shop at RHS Garden, Wisley, or by mail order (Mail Order, RHS Enterprises Ltd, RHS Garden, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB) or be ordered electronically via the web site at http://shop.wisley.co.uk. It costs £5, plus £2.50 for postage and packing.

This new supplement has over 600 entries. There are twenty-two new formal registrations which include some remarkable new D. knappii hybrids raised by T.H. Haller in West Yorkshire. Most of the other entries are additions to the Checklist of names known to be in use but which have not been formally registered. The majority of these are cultivars developed by continental breeders for the cut flower and pot plant trade and a considerable number more are gradually being added to the Checklist with the ultimate aim of listing all that have been used. There is also a significant batch of old Irish border carnation cultivars.

A number of entries also reflect revisions of those published earlier as a better understanding of the use of trade designations has been gained. A trade designation is an alternative ways of referring to a cultivar that is not the accepted cultivar name: very often the latter is in coded form but in theory at least both should be used when marketing the plant. The Register and Checklist is aiming to tie up all of this sometimes complex web of usages.

Members might also like to be aware that the RHS as the International Cultivar Registration Authority for the whole genus Dianthus is intending to produce a new edition of the Register and Checklist. The aim is to publish this in 2012 and we will also ensure that the data will also be available on the Society’s website. The Registrar would be pleased to hear of any names not already listed in the Register and Checklist and in particular to receive on loan any lists or catalogues that might contain new information: this particularly concerns plants raised by continental firms in Europe, the Middle East and Japan. Corrections and additions to existing entries are also very welcome! The aim is to have on record an account of every plant that has been given a name, so make sure that all your plants have been accounted for! The International Registrar (Dr Alan Leslie) can be contacted at 109 York Street, Cambridge CB1 2PZ or by email at alanleslie@rhs.org.uk.

Dr A.C. Leslie
2 July 2008