The meaning of "ex"

[JPB]

It is not clear to me what is meant by 'ex' when describing the geographic origin of plants. As used in e.g. "ex Spain".

I searched the internet but I couldn't find anything at all.

[mark smyth]

via or from

[Maggi Young]

For a name written as   Narcissus  sp.  ex Spain   I would understand that as a plant  or seed from material collected in or originating from Spain

For a name such as  Crocus  sp.  ex  XYZ123   - that would suggest that the  seed or plant had been derived from a plant of  a certain wild collected plant.

[Steve Garvie]

It is a term usually used to indicate the provenance (similar to the French word "provenir" -to come from) of a plant or seed.

Though in my garden it generaly indicates a plant that I have successfully killed! 

[Peter Maguire]

I seem to remember from school - and that was a long time ago, that 'ex' is a short form of the Latin word 'exeunt', meaning 'out'.
Google translate confirms this, so the old brain cells are still working. 

This would make sense, as in 'out of Spain' or 'out of XYZ123' if there was a collector's number for the parent plant.

[Alan_b]

Surely 'ex' just means 'from' in Latin and is not (necessarily) an abbreviation.  Examples: 'ex libris', 'deus ex machina'.

In English it means:

a) From a specified place or source
b) From a specified mother (in animal breeding).

So 'ex Spain' simply means 'from Spain'.


   

[Peter Maguire]

Told you my Latin was rusty! 

And in the days of 'O-levels', when a grade of 7, 8 or 9 were different grades of failure, I achieved an 8.

[JPB]

Thanks, but it was not my intention to ask for the translation if ex... I know the meaning of the word...

But, I wonder when one should stop calling a plant ex-..... when it is in culture for many years, through many generations. My impression is that this happens very often. There is a fair chance that the plant has hybridized in culture (Narcissus!) with other species or some kind of selection has been carried out by the grower. In the end, the addition of ex-.... could become misleading, as the plant has drifted away from the form the plant was once collected.

Cetero censeo usum conceptis 'ex' esse explicandum 

[Maggi Young]

 Ah, we misunderstood the question......
I believe that one should only use the "ex" for first generation plants - beyond that it is meaningless, as Hans says.

[Gerry Webster]

Ah, we misunderstood the question......
I believe that one should only use the "ex" for first generation plants - beyond that it is meaningless, as Hans says.

Maggi -  is this a personal opinion? I have had a quick look at the ICNCP (Cultivated Plant Code) & can find nothing on the question there. I cannot access the Botanical Code. 

I'm not sure that it is necessarily meaningless, although it may be - it surely depends on the particular circumstances.

I tend to use the form: "derived from....."

[Maggi Young]

Maggi -  is this a personal opinion? I have had a quick look at the ICNCP (Cultivated Plant Code) & can find nothing on the question there. I cannot access the Botanical Code. 

I'm not sure that it is necessarily meaningless, although it may be - it surely depends on the particular circumstances.

I tend to use the form: "derived from....."

Yes, it is a personal opinion, but I believe that if you look at the notes with the various seed exchanges you will find that this is a pretty general outlook on such namings. In other words, for the meanings to be most accurate, they should refer to first generation plants.  Further down the line the "blood" is more than likely to become diluted and so the relationship to the original provenance is too. If a plant is vegetatively propagated, of course, that is not the case.......

[JPB]

Often one finds in seed lists the use of W/C (wild collected) seed, as opposed to 'ex' for plants grown in gardens but derived from wild collected material. At least that is how I understand it. But if the latter is first generation seed or not, I have never seen specified...

Also, the type of pollination ('hand-pollinated' vs. 'open-pollinated') is seldomly specified. Open pollinated plants of freely interbreeding species in one and the same garden could lead to big surprises... Which in itself is not bad, but adds to the confusion if one is interested in wild species.

[Maggi Young]

I could also have mentioned the  use of "ex" when seed is from a named variety, to show the parent of the plant but that it will likely not come true from seed.

It may be that the comments I spoke of  in seed  exchange lists are not current- but they used to be included at one time, if I remember correctly!