Hi joe, Aaron, and Everybody,
The fact that N. 'Allardii' has been around since the 1890's is a testament to it's toughness and vigor.
N. x'Coccinea' is a hybrid name-there are a number of clones, both male and female. The cross was originally made by James Taplin in the 1870's (as best I recall). Before the days of the International Registration Authority, naming a new man-made horticultural hybrid was up for grabs. Out of all the seedlings resulting from (mirabilis x hookeriana), those with nearly solid red pitchers were named N. xCoccinea. The green with red flecks were named N. xAtro-Sanguinea, and so on. Next year, when the same two plants bloomed again, the cross would be remade and a new batch of names were spun. Those nurseries had to keep their catalogs full of new names!
Others used the cultivar naming method: as an example, in France, Jarry Desloges crossed N. Tiveyi and N. Mixta. Out of all the seedlings, only the superior plants were named-they may have been the survivors, the most vigorous clones. Among them were N. 'Deslogesii', N. 'Gamerii', N. 'Remilliensis', N. 'Vallierae'. Basically, this is the system used today, except the IRA will not accept the pseudo-scientific names so popular back then. In 1950 when George Pring at the Missouri Botanical Garden named his cultivars, he used peoples names, etc. He had around 8 to ten different cultivars out of that one crossing of N. Chelsonii x N. intermedia. N. 'St. Louis', N. 'Lt. Bradford Pring', N. 'Henry Shaw', N. 'Dr. D.C. Fairburn'.
This is actually the proper way to register and name cultivars.
As for the Dicksoniana: it's really not the right way to do things, but it is based upon the naming procedures used by orchid breeders. Orchid hybrid naming has its own set of rules, all other plants adhere to the methodology described by the IRA rules. See the ICPS website for the details.
As for viability of cuttings- there's still plenty of Victorian hybrids around: N. Mixta, N. Mastersiana, N. Dyeriana, N. Morganiana, N. Deslogesii, N. Wrigleyana. These are great hybrids, easy to grow, and were made with species stock collected back in the days when collectors risked disease and head hunters to bring back those rare and valued plants.
Trent