Variety, Cultivar, Population and Accession, what does it mean?

To view the objects in our personal collection, please visit the dedicated website. These objects are available exclusively for rental or acquisition by ecomuseums.
For illustrating this section, we can produce on request at least one large size HD poster (up to 180x100 cm in size). These posters should be adapted to each country, on a case-by-case basis, in order to prominently feature locally produced coconut products, and to promote the marketing of these local products. 

Here are some useful definitions:

Genebank: Type of biorepository which preserves genetic material. In the case of coconut palm, in 2025 all are presently field genebanks conserving accessions of living coconut palms.

Ex situ conservation: When a species is conserved outside of its usual location, such as in field genebanks as living plants or in in vitro collections of tissues and embryos (not yed developped). 

Variety: A distinct, often intentionally bred subset of a species that will behave uniformly and predictably when grown in an environment to which it is adapted. Widest sense includes cultivar, ecotype, landrace, etc. 

Cultivar: Cultivated variety (See variety). 

Landrace: Traditional palms specifically adapted to the environmental conditions from their region.

Population within a variety: Introduced in the coconut nomenclature as follows: populations could denote minor geographical and/or phenotypic differentiation within a variety.

Accession: A collection of plant material from a particular location, received by a genebank to ensure sustainable conservation of a single specific cultivar, landrace or population.

Hybrid: In the case of the coconut palm, the term “hybrid” is defined in its widest sense as the result of a cross between population, families, or individual palms belonging to different varieties.

In situ conservation: When a species is located/conserved in its usual situation, -in farmers’ fields or in protected areas.

Genotype: The hereditary constitution of an individual.

Phenotype: Appearance of an organism with respect to a particular character or group of characters (physical, biochemical or physiological), because of the interaction of its genotype and its environment.

©R. Bourdeix, 2026, section CAGM.

Documentation by countries and territories - Documentation par pays et territoires

To view the objects in our personal collection, please visit the dedicated website. These objects are available exclusively for rental or acquisition by ecomuseums.

Countries and territories visited by the author are written in normal font. Those that have not yet been visited are in italic font. So far, 55 countries and territories have been visited, of wich about 90% for purposes linked to coconut research and development activities.

The Pacific region - La région Pacifique

01) Cook Islands - 02) French Polynesia - 03) Hawaii - Kiribati - Marshall Islands - Micronesia - Nauru - 04) New Caledonia - 05) New Zealand - Northern Mariana Islands - Palau - 06) Papua New Guinea - 07) Samoa- American Samoa - 08)  Solomon Islands - 09) Tonga - 10) Tuvalu - 11) Vanuatu - 12)  Wallis and Futuna

The Pacific Islands is made up of three sub regions: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Melanesia means “black islands” in Greek and consists of roughly 2,000 islands in South Pacific Ocean that extends from New Guinea, stretches to New Caledonia and includes the Arafura Sea. Micronesia includes the area between Hawaii and the Philippines, and also consists of about 2,000 islands. Polynesia encompasses about 1,000 islands that stretch from Hawaii, to Easter Island to New Zealand.

Asia - Asie

Afghanistan - Armenia - Azerbaijan - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Bhutan - Brunei - Cambodia - China - Cyprus - Georgia - Hong Kong - 13) India - 14)  Indonesia - Iran - Iraq - Israel - 15) Japan - Jordan - Kazakhstan - Kuwait - Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Lebanon - Macao - 16) Malaysia - Maldives - Mongolia - Myanmar - Nepal - North Korea - 17) Oman - Pakistan - 18) Philippines - Qatar - Saudi Arabia - 19) Singapore - 20) South Korea - 21) Sri Lanka - State of Palestine - Syria - Taiwan - Tajikistan - 22) Thailand - Timor-Leste - 23) Turkey - Turkmenistan - United Arab Emirates - Uzbekistan - 24) Vietnam - Yemen

Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe, and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa and Europe. Asia covers about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. In 2021, its 4.7 billion people constitutes roughly 60% of the world's population.

Africa

25) Algeria - Angola - Azores - 26) Benin - Botswana - 27) Burkina Faso - Burundi - 28) Cameroon - Canary Islands - Cape Verde - Central African Republic - Ceuta - Chad - 29) Comoros - Congo - 30) Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) - Djibouti - Egypt - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Eswatini - Ethiopia - French Southern and Antarctic Lands - Gabon - Gambia - 31) Ghana - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - 32) Kenya - Lesotho - Liberia - Libya - Madagascar - Madeira - Malawi - 33) Mali - Mauritania - Mauritius - 34) Mayotte - Melilla - 35) Morocco - 36) Mozambique - Namibia - Niger - Nigeria - Pelagie Islands - Plazas de soberanía - 37) La Réunion - Rwanda - Sahrawi - Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha - Sao Tome and Principe - Sénegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Socotra Archipelago - Somalia - Somaliland - South Africa - South Sudan - Sudan - 38) Tanzania - 39) Togo - Tunisia - Uganda - Zambia - Zimbabwe

Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states (countries), eight territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition.

Americas 

Anguilla - Antigua-et-Barbuda - Archipel de San Andrés, Providencia et Santa Catalina - Argentine - Aruba - Bahamas - Barbade - Belize - Bermudes - Bolivie - Bonaire - 40) Brésil - 41) Canada - Chili - Colombia - Costa Rica - Cuba - Curaçao - Dépendances fédérales (Venezuela) - 42) Dominique - 43) Ecuador - 44) United States - Géorgie du Sud-et-les îles Sandwich du Sud - Grenade - Groenland - 45) Guadeloupe - Guatemala - Guyana - Guyane française - Haïti - Honduras - Île Clipperton (France) - Île de la Navasse - Île Guadalupe - Îles Caïmans - Îles Galápagos - Îles Malouines - Îles Turques-et-Caïques - Îles Vierges britanniques - Îles Vierges des États-Unis (États-Unis) - 46) Jamaïque - Martinique - 47) Mexico - Montserrat - Nicaragua - Panama - Paraguay - Pérou - Porto Rico - 48) Dominican Republic - Saba - Saint-Barthélemy - Saint-Christophe-et-Niévès - Sainte-Lucie - Saint-Eustache - Saint-Martin (France) - Saint-Martin (Pays-Bas) - Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon - Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines - Salvador - Suriname - Trinité-et-Tobago - Uruguay – Venezuela.

The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America,are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America.The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with their associated islands, the Americas cover 8% of Earth's total surface area and 28.4% of its land area. Since the Americas extend 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from north to south, the climate and ecology vary widely, from the arctic tundra of Northern Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, to the tropical rain forests in Central America and South America.

Europe 

Albania - Andorra - Austria - Belarus - 49) Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Channel Islands - Croatia - 50) Czech Republic (Czechia) - Denmark - Estonia - Faeroe Islands - Finland - 51) France - Germany - Greece - Holy See - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Isle of Man - 52) Italy - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - North Macedonia - Norway - Poland - 53) Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - 54) Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Ukraine - 55) United Kingdom

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. Europe covers about 10.18 million km2 (3.93 million sq mi), or 2% of Earth's surface (6.8% of land area), making it the second-smallest continent.

©R. Bourdeix, 2022, section DPP- Documentation par pays