Graph genus most commonly refers to the orientable genus
of a graph
, namely the minimum genus of an
orientable surface in which
can be embedded (Mohar
1998, Wan 2023).
When orientability is not understood from context, the qualifier is needed. The nonorientable genus instead minimizes the genus
of a nonorientable surface in which
can be embedded.
The Euler genus of
is
and treats the orientable and nonorientable cases in a common scale.