hybrida

Hybrida is a Latin adjective meaning "hybrid." In biology, it is used to describe organisms that arise from the crossbreeding of different taxa, typically between species or genera. In taxonomic practice, hybrida may appear as part of a scientific name to signal hybrid origin, and it often functions as the feminine form of the adjective to agree with the genus name.

In botanical nomenclature, the formal designation of a hybrid is usually indicated with the multiplication sign (×) between the names of the parent taxa. The epithet hybrida (or hybrida’s feminine forms) is then used in some names to reflect a hybrid lineage, though the orthodox signal of a hybrid is the nothospecific cross notation rather than the epithet alone. A well-known example in horticulture is Rosa × hybrida, the modern garden rose group, whose cultivars result from interspecific crosses among rose species.

Outside strict taxonomy, hybrida appears in historical or regional literature as a descriptive epithet for hybrid forms or cultivated crosses. It is not a taxonomic rank by itself but a descriptive term that may occur in species names, cultivar names, or common-language usage.

Etymology: hybrida derives from Latin hybrida, the feminine form of hybridus or hybridus, itself from a Greek-rooted tradition describing crossbreeding. The term remains in use chiefly as a descriptor in scientific names and horticultural contexts.

See also: hybrid, hybridization, nothospecies.