Un-named Hosta Seedling
Search the Hosta Database
The official Hosta Treasury is also your resource for looking up hosta names and viewing photos to understand their growing habits, size, leaf shape, flower color, and more. Visit the Hosta Treasury to get started!
Register Your Unique Hosta!
Have a unique hosta seedling growing in your garden? Have you tried your hand at cross-pollination?
Hybridizers, both professional and home-grown, can register their original hosta seedlings or hosta sport! Read the information below, and visit the Hosta Treasury website to explore other registered hosta varieties.
Registration Process
The process of submitting a cultivar epithet (name), description, photos and other relevant information for consideration to the International Registrar for the Genus Hosta.
The primary purpose of registration is to limit confusion among hosta cultivars by establishing a permanent record in a central location. Registration provides benefits for the registrant by establishing a record of “ownership” of a cultivar, and provides the means for having the cultivar name and description published. Registrations are published on a yearly basis by the American Hosta Society in a Registrations supplement to The Hosta Journal.
International Registrar
In the early 1970s the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), based in the Netherlands, appointed the University of Minnesota as the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) for the genus Hosta; and Mr. Mervin C. Eisel was named the first International Registrar. Later, the American Hosta Society (AHS) was selected to share this role with the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and ultimately assumed the ICRA role altogether. In their capacity as ICRA for the genus Hosta, the AHS reviews and appoints a Registrar, as well as an advisory team to assist the Registrar as needed.
It is the responsibility of the registrar to evaluate submitted cultivar names and consider them for registration. Names are evaluated for uniqueness and conformity to the guidelines within the latest edition of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). This document is the set of rules and recommendations which provide the guidelines for establishing cultivar names. Registration information submitted is evaluated for completeness and clarity prior to being recorded in an electronic database, and the submitted forms and photographs are filed for future reference. Also, the ICNCP requires that when a person’s name is used for a hosta name, their permission (or their estates permission) is required. It is not the responsibility of the registrar to judge the merit, stability or uniqueness of the cultivar itself. However, this information is invaluable as submitted by the registrant.
The registration of Hosta cultivars is to the benefit of everyone with an interest in hosta. The goal is to eliminate confusion and to compile as complete a record as possible of all Hosta cultivars.
Gayle Hartley Alley
International Registrar for the Genus Hosta
33001 E 155th Street
Pleasant Hill, MO 64080-9365