Variety (botany)

; in Latin: varietas) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of form.

[2] The pincushion cactus, Escobaria vivipara, is a wide-ranging variable species occurring from Canada to Mexico, and found throughout New Mexico below about 2,600 metres (8,500 ft).

[citation needed] The term is defined in different ways by different authors.

[3] However, the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, while recognizing that the word "variety" is often used to denote "cultivar", does not accept this usage.

The code acknowledges the other usage as follows: "term used in some national and international legislation for a clearly distinguishable taxon below the rank of species; generally, in legislative texts, a term equivalent to cultivar.