Our Research Principles
How we evaluate sources, document plant identities, and explain uncertainty in the World Platycerium Registry.
01 · What we document
What goes into a WPS record
WPS is a living research archive. We document what the evidence supports, make gaps clear, and revise records when better information becomes available. A useful record can be incomplete.
- Names people use.We record original-language names, translations, romanizations, aliases, and alternate spellings so readers can connect names with the identities they describe.
- Recognizable characteristics.We describe the features that help distinguish a plant, using clear observations and noting variation where it is documented.
- Origin and history.We trace what is known about a plant’s origin, the people involved, and its lineage. We leave gaps rather than inventing a complete story.
- Propagation and continuity.We distinguish propagation methods and explain when a name can continue through them, without assuming offspring are identical.
- Traceable sources.We cite sources so readers can trace the evidence, including webpages, original posts, catalogs, interviews, books, and photographs.
- Visible uncertainty.We distinguish documented facts from reported accounts, disputed claims, and unknown details.
02 · Names and identity
A name is a clue, not proof
We keep original names, translations, romanizations, trade names, and alternate spellings together when the evidence connects them to the same identity.
We do not merge plants simply because they share a name such as Moonlight. We compare their origins, lineage, dates, descriptions, and photographs.
The breeder, selector, namer, introducer, and seller may be different people. We attribute each role only where the evidence supports it.
An incomplete record is more trustworthy than a complete-looking record built from assumptions.
03 · Propagation and lineage
We distinguish a selection from its offspring
A plant may produce pups, spores, and tissue-culture material. That does not mean every propagated plant needs a new registry record. We distinguish a separate identity when the evidence establishes a distinct selection, offspring, or documented line.
Usually continues the same plant identity and name.
Create genetically new offspring. A spore-grown plant does not automatically inherit the parent’s selection name.
Intended to reproduce the same selection. We distinguish a separate identity when a distinct, stable plant is documented.
Propagation records how a plant can reproduce. Lineage records how a particular named plant originated from another named plant. For example, Jade Girl producing spores is propagation; a separately named selection grown from those spores is a spore-offspring relationship.
04 · Sources and uncertainty
We start with the strongest available evidence
Original or firsthand records
Dated posts from the breeder or originator, original descriptions, nursery catalogs, labels, interviews, correspondence, and photographs of the original plant.
Independent accounts
Several dated sources that agree, society articles, collector histories, and records from nurseries close to the plant’s introduction.
Listings and repeated stories
Marketplace listings, reposted captions, forums, and unattributed claims can lead us to better sources, but repetition alone does not prove a story.
Sources should be identifiable and traceable
- We use the published title, or a short factual description when a source has no title.
- We identify the author, photographer, speaker, nursery, publisher, or platform when known.
- We include dates and links when available.
- Our notes explain what a source supports and any reasons for caution.
When credible sources disagree, we preserve the disagreement rather than combining conflicting stories into one confident account.
05 · Plant labels
We use labels the evidence can support
Named selection
A particular selected plant known by a name.
This is a useful default when its full history or continuity has not yet been documented.Cultivar
A cultivated selection with recognizable characteristics retained through an appropriate method of propagation.
We use this label when identity, defining traits, continuity, and name are adequately documented.Hybrid
A plant descended from different taxa. Crossing two named lines within one species does not by itself establish an interspecific hybrid.
We attribute reported ancestry and do not guess the parents or direction of a cross.Trade or market name
A name used to sell material that may not identify one consistent selection.
Repeated listings alone do not prove a cultivar or clone.Species placement is separate from a plant’s selection name. Records distinguish a single species, reported interspecific hybrids, selections of reported hybrid ancestry, and unresolved placement. A missing single-species assignment does not mean that a documented hybrid is unidentified.
WPS documents and evaluates cultivated identities. It is not currently an International Cultivar Registration Authority and does not grant official cultivar registration.
06 · Quick examples
How we apply these principles
P. willinckii ‘Jade Girl’
We record fertile spores and pups as observed propagation. Tissue-cultured material is commercially documented, but its producer, source material, and fidelity remain unresolved. We do not automatically apply the Jade Girl name to spore-grown offspring.
Moonlight
When the same name appears on different plants, we keep the identities separate until the evidence establishes that they are the same.
Spur
Where evidence establishes that Spur was selected from another line, we record “selected from” as lineage. How later Spur plants are propagated is separate information.
Auburn River
We distinguish a reported location of biological origin from a cultivar identity. A place of origin does not by itself establish a cultivar identity.
Jenny and Kitchakood
We record named people and reported hybrid parents where sources support them, and mark details as reported or unknown when the evidence is incomplete.
07 · Corrections and sources
Help improve a record
Spotted an error or found a useful source? Send it to WPS for review. You can suggest a correction directly from a plant record to include its name and record ID.
Corrections are reviewed privately before any official record changes. Community membership lets growers share plants, experiences, and discussions; it does not grant access to edit registry records.