Garden Notes
Genus and Species

Horticulture expert Dr. Lelia Kelly defines the garden terms genus and species. This is what is called the binomial nomenclature or two names (one genus and the other species) that describe the type of plant. When a plant is botanically classified it is categorized in increasingly specific groups. The most specific group is the genus. Within the genus are the individual species of plants. Often we use the genus name as the common name of the plant (Magnolia is the genus name).

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