Infraspecific name
In botany, an infraspecific name is the scientific name for any taxon below the rank of species, i.e. an infraspecific taxon. (A "taxon", plural "taxa", is a group of organisms to be given a particular name.) The scientific names of botanical taxa are regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN). This specifies a 'three part name' for infraspecific taxa, plus a 'connecting term' to indicate the rank of the name. An example of such a name is Astrophytum myriostigma subvar. glabrum, the name of a subvariety of the species Astrophytum myriostigma (bishop's hat cactus).
Names below the rank of species of cultivated varieties of plants and of animals are regulated by different codes of nomenclature and are formed somewhat differently.
Construction of infraspecific names
Article 24 of the ICN describes how infraspecific names are constructed. The order of the three parts of an infraspecific name is:
It is customary to italicize all three parts of such a name, but not the connecting term. For example:
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