diff --git a/bauble/plugins/plants/genus.py b/bauble/plugins/plants/genus.py
index 42d62165f..626ec3c2b 100755
--- a/bauble/plugins/plants/genus.py
+++ b/bauble/plugins/plants/genus.py
@@ -149,7 +149,8 @@ class Genus(db.Base, db.Serializable, db.WithNotes):
     def search_view_markup_pair(self):
         '''provide the two lines describing object for SearchView row.
         '''
-        return utils.xml_safe(self), utils.xml_safe(self.family)
+        return utils.xml_safe(self.str(use_hybrid_marker=True),
+                              utils.xml_safe(self.family))
 
     @property
     def cites(self):
@@ -214,16 +215,17 @@ def accepted(self, value):
     def __repr__(self):
         return self.str()
 
-    def str(self, author=False):
+    def str(self, author=False, use_hybrid_marker=False):
         # string representation of genus, good for markup.
+        prepend = use_hybrid_marker and self.hybrid_marker or ''
         if self.epithet is None:
             return repr(self)
         elif not author or self.author is None:
-            return (self.hybrid_marker +
+            return (prepend +
                     ' '.join([s for s in [self.epithet, self.aggregate]
                               if s not in ('', None)]))
         else:
-            return (self.hybrid_marker +
+            return (prepend +
                     ' '.join(
                         [s for s in [self.epithet, self.aggregate,
                                      xml.sax.saxutils.escape(self.author)]
@@ -860,7 +862,8 @@ def update(self, row):
         session = object_session(row)
         self.current_obj = row
         self.widget_set_value('gen_name_data', '<big>%s</big> %s' %
-                              (row, utils.xml_safe(unicode(row.author))),
+                              (row.str(use_hybrid_marker=True),
+                               utils.xml_safe(unicode(row.author))),
                               markup=True)
         self.widget_set_value('gen_fam_data',
                               (utils.xml_safe(unicode(row.family))))
diff --git a/bauble/plugins/plants/species.py b/bauble/plugins/plants/species.py
index e176a26d1..c2550ec52 100755
--- a/bauble/plugins/plants/species.py
+++ b/bauble/plugins/plants/species.py
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ def update(self, row):
             self.widgets.sp_fam_data, on_label_clicked, row.genus.family)
         # link to genus
         self.widget_set_value('sp_gen_data', '<big><i>%s</i></big>' %
-                              row.genus.epithet, markup=True)
+                              row.genus.str(use_hybrid_marker=True), markup=True)
         utils.make_label_clickable(
             self.widgets.sp_gen_data, on_label_clicked, row.genus)
         # epithet (full binomial but missing genus)
diff --git a/bauble/plugins/plants/species_model.py b/bauble/plugins/plants/species_model.py
index 66569ba33..b38f35d21 100755
--- a/bauble/plugins/plants/species_model.py
+++ b/bauble/plugins/plants/species_model.py
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ def str(self, authors=False, markup=False, remove_zws=False, genus=True,
         # since it won't be able to look up the genus....we could
         # probably try to query the genus directly with the genus_id
         if genus is True:
-            genus = self.genus.str(author=False)
+            genus = self.genus.str(author=False, use_hybrid_marker=True)
         else:
             genus = ''
         if self.epithet and not remove_zws:
diff --git a/bauble/plugins/plants/test.py b/bauble/plugins/plants/test.py
index 6833de0a3..3d41b5160 100644
--- a/bauble/plugins/plants/test.py
+++ b/bauble/plugins/plants/test.py
@@ -540,6 +540,7 @@ def test_genus_str_plain(self):
         genus = Genus(family=f, epithet=u'Crataegus',
                       author='L.', hybrid_marker='')
         self.assertEquals(genus.str(), 'Crataegus')
+        self.assertEquals(genus.str(use_hybrid_marker=True), 'Crataegus')
         self.assertEquals(genus.str(author=True),
                           'Crataegus L.')
 
@@ -547,16 +548,26 @@ def test_genus_str_nothotaxon(self):
         f = Family(epithet=u'Rosaceae')
         genus = Genus(family=f, epithet=u"Cratae-Mespilus",
                       author="E.G.Camus", hybrid_marker="×")
-        self.assertEquals(genus.str(), '×Cratae-Mespilus')
-        self.assertEquals(genus.str(author=True),
-                          '×Cratae-Mespilus E.G.Camus')
+        self.assertEquals(
+            genus.str(), 'Cratae-Mespilus')
+        self.assertEquals(
+            genus.str(use_hybrid_marker=True), '×Cratae-Mespilus')
+        self.assertEquals(
+            genus.str(author=True), 'Cratae-Mespilus E.G.Camus')
+        self.assertEquals(
+            genus.str(author=True, use_hybrid_marker=True),
+            '×Cratae-Mespilus E.G.Camus')
 
     def test_genus_str_graft_chimera(self):
         f = Family(epithet=u'Rosaceae')
         genus = Genus(family=f, epithet=u'Crataegomespilus',
                       author="Simon-Louis & Bellair", hybrid_marker="+")
-        self.assertEquals(genus.str(), '+Crataegomespilus')
+        self.assertEquals(genus.str(), 'Crataegomespilus')
+        self.assertEquals(
+            genus.str(use_hybrid_marker=True), '+Crataegomespilus')
         self.assertEquals(genus.str(author=True),
+                          'Crataegomespilus Simon-Louis &amp; Bellair')
+        self.assertEquals(genus.str(use_hybrid_marker=True, author=True),
                           '+Crataegomespilus Simon-Louis &amp; Bellair')
 
     def test_synonyms(self):