Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2016
Since its discovery by Haro (1952) the star H1-36 has been catalogued as a planetary nebula despite its extremely high-excitation emission-line spectrum (e.g. [Fe VII], [Ne V]) and its imposing, variable infrared excess. Because its optical spectrum resembled those of many symbiotic stars, I have persistently classified H1-36 as such. A meaningful definition of a symbiotic star would necessarily include both the high-excitation emission-line spectrum and the presence of a cool (usually M-type or Mira) giant.