"What variety is that?", and why it's a question that doesn't make sense (most of the time).
I frequently see and hear people say "this variety of plant is...", when what they were really wanting to say was "this kind of plant is...". I hear it so much, especially on Youtube videos, that it gives me the impression that these people were only substituting the word 'variety' for 'kind' because they are perhaps assuming that 'variety' is a botanical jargon for 'kind' or 'type'. Even Summer Rayne Oakes, despite her exposure to various botanists from around the world, is still inclined to say "variety", rather than the much more apt 'species'. Variety You see, 'variety' in the botanical language does not equate to 'kind' or 'type'. It is a botanical nomenclature ranking. To illustrate: genus-species-subspecies-variety-forma . In the botanical world, the distinction between subspecies and variety is sketchy at best, and one botanist's definition of 'subspecies' may be