https://acra.biodiversity.services
The Australian Cultivar Registration Authority (ACRA) is a not for profit organisation which is responsible for maintaining a registry of Australian Cultivars including a way to submit applications for new cultivars. The ACRA website is a registration portal for plant breeders to apply for registration of a native plant cultivar. Visitors to the site can view registered Native plant cultivars which have been registered by carrying out a search on the database or simply view the list of registered plant cultivar names.
What is a cultivar?
The cultivar is the basic grouping, or taxon (= culton), for cultivatedvarieties. The word was coined by L. H. Bailey in 1923 and is now commonly used. Their naming is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). This is a separate system to that used for wild plants, the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature’ (ICNB). (ACRA | About)
How are cultivars identified in comparison to native species?
Cultivars of plants are usually identified with quotation marks following a Native plant name. For example, Banksia ‘Giant Candles’, is identified as a registered cultivar by the name ‘Giant Candles’. Using the ACRA registry, it is possible to find out what the registration history. In the case of ‘Giant Candles’, a ACRA search yields information such as the copyright applicant and it is a hybrid of Banksia ericifolia and with the revolute margins of B. spinulosa (Banksia ‘Giant Candles’)
Under the 2004 International Code for Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants ACRA is the “International Registration Authority for Australian plant genera excluding those covered by other authorities”. This includes all endemic genera and all predominantly Australian genera. ACRA will register all Australian varieties granted registration by the Australian Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) office (subject to all registration requirements being met). (ACRA | About)
Are cultivars protected by law?
When plant breeders receive registration for their cultivar, it is protected under plant breeder rights, which is a form of intellectual property which has been legislated in the Australian Federal parliament. Plant Breeder Rights (PBR) protection applies for twenty years for most plant species and twenty-five years for vines and trees.
See more information
Haynes, C 2025, What is the difference between a cultivar and a variety?, viewed on 21 May, 2025, <https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/faq/what-difference-between-cultivar-and-variety>. This article explains what the difference is between a variety, a naturally occurring variation in a species from a cultivar which has been developed through selection and/or hybridisation
References
Australian Government 2025, Plant Breeders Rights. Provides information related to the entitlement of plant breeders to register intellectual property, such as cultivars of Australian native plants.
Australian Government 2024, History of the Australian Cultivar Registration Authority. Provides an overview of the history written by David Young of cultivar registration for plants developed from Australian native plants from an article published in the Australian Systematic Botany Newsletter, No.5, July 1975 (pp. 8-9).
Australian Government 2025, Intellectual property. Provides a link to information about plant breeder’s rights, which protect the commercial rights of new plant varieties