Cultigen

A cultigen (from the Latin "cultus" – cultivated, and "gens" – kind) or cultivated plant is a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans; it is the result of artificial selection. These anthropogenic plants, for the most part, have commercial value in horticulture, agriculture or forestry. Because cultigens are defined by their mode of origin and not by where they are growing, plants meeting this definition remain cultigens whether they are naturalised in the wild, deliberately planted in the wild, or growing in cultivation.
Cultigens arise in the following ways: 
Naming.
Cultigens may be named in any of a number of ways. The traditional method of scientific naming is under the "International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants", and many of the most important cultigens, like maize ("Zea mays") and banana ("Musa acuminata"), are so named. Although it is perfectly in order to give a cultigen a botanical name, in any rank desired, now or at any other time, these days it is more common for cultigens to be given names in accordance with the principles, rules and recommendations laid down in the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) which provides for the names of cultigens in three classification categories, the cultivar, the Group (formerly cultivar-group), and the grex. From that viewpoint it may be said that there is a separate discipline of cultivated plant taxonomy, which forms one of the ways to look at cultigens. The ICNCP does not recognize the use of trade designations and other marketing devices as scientifically acceptable names, but does provide advice on how they should be presented.
Not all cultigens have been given names according to the "Cultivated Plant Code". Apart from ancient cultigens like those mentioned above there may be occasional anthropogenic plants such as those that are the result of breeding, selection, and tissue grafting that are of no commercial value and have therefore not been given names according to the ICNCP.
Formal definition.
A cultigen is a plant whose origin or selection is primarily due to intentional human activity.
The wild/cultivated distinction.
Interest in the distinction between wild and cultivated plants dates back to antiquity. Botanical historian Alan Morton notes that wild and cultivated plants (cultigens) were of intense interest to the ancient Greek botanists (partly for religious reasons) and that the distinction was discussed in some detail by Theophrastus (370–285 BCE) the "Father of Botany". Theophrastus was a pupil of both Plato and Aristotle and succeeded the latter as head of the Peripatetic School of Philosophy at the Lyceum in Athens. Theophrastus accepted the view that it was human action, not divine intervention, that produced cultivated plants (cultigens) from wild plants and he also "had an inkling of the limits of culturally induced (phenotypic) changes and of the importance of genetic constitution" ("Historia Plantarum" III, 2,2 and "Causa Plantarum" I, 9,3). He also noted that cultivated varieties of fruit trees would degenerate if cultivated from seed.
Origin of term.
The word cultigen was coined in 1918 by Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954) an American horticulturist, botanist and cofounder of the American Society for Horticultural Science. He was aware of the need for special categories for those cultivated plants that had arisen by intentional human activity and which would not fit neatly into the Linnaean hierarchical classification of ranks used by the "International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature" (which later became the "International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants").
In his 1918 paper Bailey noted that for anyone preparing a descriptive account of the cultivated plants of a country (he was at that time preparing such an account for North America) it would be clear that there are two "gentes" or kinds (Latin singular, "gens"; plural, "gentes") of plants. Firstly, those that are of known origin or nativity "of known habitat". These he referred to as indigens. The other kind was: ... a domesticated group of which the origin may be unknown or indefinite, which has such characters as to separate it from known indigens, and which is probably not represented by any type specimen or exact description, having therefore no clear taxonomic beginning.
He called this second kind of plant a cultigen, the word derived from the conflation of the Latin "cultus" – cultivated, and "gens" – kind.
In 1923 Bailey extended his original discussion emphasising that he was dealing with plants at the rank of species and he referred to indigens as: those that are discovered in the wild and cultigens as plants that: arise in some way under the hand of man He then defined a cultigen as: a species, or its equivalent, that has appeared under domestication
Bailey's definitions.
Bailey soon altered his 1923 definition of cultigen when, in 1924, he gave a new definition in the Glossary of his "Manual of Cultivated Plants" as: Plant or group known only in cultivation; presumably originating under domestication; contrast with indigen This, in essence, is the definition given at the head of this piece. This definition of the cultigen permits the recognition of cultivars, unlike the 1923 definition which restricts the idea of the cultigen to plants at the rank of species.
In later publications of the "Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium", Cornell, the idea of the cultigen having the rank of species returned (e.g. "Hortus Second" in 1941 and "Hortus Third" in 1976): both of these publications indicate that the terms cultigen and cultivar are not synonymous and that cultigens exist at the rank of species only.
A cultigen is a plant or group of apparent specific rank, known only in cultivation, with no determined nativity, presumably having originated, in the form in which we know it, under domestication. Compare indigen. Examples are "Cucurbita maxima", "Phaseolus vulgaris", "Zea mays".
Recent usage in horticulture has, however, maintained a distinction between cultigen and cultivar while nevertheless allowing the inclusion of cultivars within the definition (see "Usage in horticulture" below).
Cultivars.
Cultigen and cultivar may be confused with one another. Cultigen is a general-purpose term encompassing not only plants with cultivar names but others as well (see introductory text above), while cultivar is a formal classification category (in the ICNCP).
Although in his 1923 paper Bailey used only the rank of species for the cultigen, it was clear to him that many domesticated plants were more like botanical varieties than species and so he established a new classification category for these, the cultivar. Bailey was never explicit about the etymology of the word cultivar and it has been suggested that it is a contraction of the words "cultigen" or "cultivated" and "variety". He defined cultivar in his 1923 paper as: 
 ... "a race subordinate to species, that has originated and persisted under cultivation; it is not necessarily, however, referable to a recognised botanical species. It is essentially the equivalent of the botanical variety except in respect to its origin".
This definition and understanding of cultivar has changed over time (see current definition in cultivar).
Usage.
Usage in botany.
In botanical literature the word cultigen is generally used to denote a plant which, like the bread wheat ("Triticum aestivum") is of unknown origin, but presumed to be an ancient human selection. Plants like bread wheat have been given binomials according to the "Botanical Code" and therefore have names with the same form as those of plant species that occur naturally in the wild, but it is not necessary for a cultigen to have a species name, or to have the biological characteristics that distinguish a species. Cultigens can have names at any of various other ranks, including cultivar names, names in the classification categories of grex and group, variety names, forma names, or they may be plants that have been altered by humans (including genetically modified plants) but which have not been given formal names.
Usage in horticulture.
The year 1953 was an important one for cultivated plant taxonomy because this was the date of publication of the first "International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants" in which Bailey's term cultivar was introduced. It was also the year that the eponymous journal commemorating the work of Bailey (who died in 1954), "Baileya", was published. In the first volume of "Baileya" taxonomist and colleague of Bailey, George Lawrence, wrote a short article clarifying the distinction between the new term "cultivar" and the "variety". In the same article he also tried to clarify the critical term "taxon" which had been introduced by German biologist Meyer in the 1920s but had only just been introduced and accepted in botanical circles. This brief article by Lawrence is useful for its insight into the understanding of the meaning of the word cultigen at this time. He opens the article: "In 1918, L.H. Bailey distinguished those plants originating in cultivation from the native plants by designating the former as cultigens and the latter as indigens (indigenous or native to the region). At the same time he proposed the term cultivar to distinguish varieties originating in cultivation from botanical varieties known first in the wild".
In horticulture the definition and use of the terms cultigen and cultivar has varied. One example is the definition given in the Botanical Glossary of "The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening" which defines cultigen as: " "A plant found only in cultivation or in the wild having escaped from cultivation; included here are many hybrids and cultivars," "... 
The use of cultigen in this sense is essentially the same as the definition of the cultigen published by Bailey in 1924.
The "Cultivated Plant Code", however, states that cultigens are "maintained as recognisable entities solely by continued propagation", and thus would not include plants that have evolved subsequent to escape from cultivation.
Recommended usage.
Wider use of the term cultigen as defined here has been proposed for the following reasons:
Critique of definition.
Potential misunderstandings and questions arising from the definition of cultigen given here have been discussed in the literature and are summarised below.