Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, describes, classifies, identifies, and names
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
s. It thus is one of the main branches of
taxonomyAlpha taxonomy is the science of finding, describing and categorising organisms, thus leading to the recognition of proposed taxonomic groups, or taxa , which may then be named....
.
Plant taxonomy is closely allied to
plant systematicsThe history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lore usually being treated as part of the study of...
, and there is no sharp boundary between the two. In practice, "plant systematics" is involved with relationships between plants and their evolution, especially at the higher levels, whereas "plant taxonomy" deals with the actual handling of plant
specimenIn biology, a specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, plant, part of a plant, or microorganism used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or subspecies...
s.
Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, describes, classifies, identifies, and names
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
s. It thus is one of the main branches of
taxonomyAlpha taxonomy is the science of finding, describing and categorising organisms, thus leading to the recognition of proposed taxonomic groups, or taxa , which may then be named....
.
Plant taxonomy is closely allied to
plant systematicsThe history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lore usually being treated as part of the study of...
, and there is no sharp boundary between the two. In practice, "plant systematics" is involved with relationships between plants and their evolution, especially at the higher levels, whereas "plant taxonomy" deals with the actual handling of plant
specimenIn biology, a specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, plant, part of a plant, or microorganism used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or subspecies...
s. The precise relationship between taxonomy and systematics, however, has changed along with the goals and methods employed.
Plant taxonomy is well known for being turbulent, and traditionally there is no really close agreement on circumscription and placement of
taxa|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement. Defining what belongs or does not belong to such a...
. See the
list of systems of plant taxonomy.
Identification and classification
Two goals of plant taxonomy are the identification and classification of plants. The distinction between these two goals is important and often overlooked.
Plant identification is the determination of the identity of an unknown plant by comparison with previously collected specimens or with the aid of books or identification manuals. The process of identification connects the specimen with a published name. Once a plant specimen has been identified, its name and properties are known.
Plant classification is the placing of known plants into groups or categories to show some relationship. Scientific classification follows a system of rules that standardizes the results, and groups successive categories into a
hierarchyA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level. These classifications are made with regard to rank, importance, seniority, power status or authority...
. For example, the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
to which the
liliesThe genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Lilies comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family and are important as large showy flowering garden plants...
belong is classified as follows:
- Kingdom: Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
ae
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Liliopsida
Liliopsida is a botanical name for the class containing the family Liliaceae . It is considered synonymous with the name monocotyledon. Publication of the name is credited to Scopoli : see author citation...
- Order: Liliales
Liliales is an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants. This order of necessity includes the family Liliaceae, but both the family and the order have had a widely disputed history, with the circumscription varying greatly from one taxonomist to another...
- Family: Liliaceae
The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
- Genera : ... ...
The classification of plants results in an organized system for the naming and cataloging of future specimens, and ideally reflects scientific ideas about plant inter-relationships.
Classification systems
- APG system
A modern system of plant taxonomy, the APG system of plant classification was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. The system is unusual in being based, not on total evidence, but on the cladistic analysis of the DNA sequences of three genes, two chloroplast genes and one gene...
- APG II system
A modern system of plant taxonomy, the APG II system of plant classification was published in 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG, in*Angiosperm Phylogeny Group . An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II. Botanical...
- Bessey system
A system of plant taxonomy, the Bessey system was published inBessey considered Spermatophyta as having had polyphyletic origin, being composed by three different phyla, of the which he treatedonly of Anthophyta ....
- Cronquist system
A system of plant taxonomy, the Cronquist system is a scheme for the classification of flowering plants . This system was developed by Arthur Cronquist in his texts An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants .Cronquist's...
- Melchior system
This is the named Melchior system, "a reference in all taxonomic courses" , detailing the taxonomic system of the Angiospermae according to A. Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien 1964 ....
See also
- Botanical nomenclature
Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It has a long history, going back to the period when Latin was the scientific language throughout Europe, and perhaps further back to Theophrastos. The key event was Linnaeus’ adoption of binary names for plant species in his...
- Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in alcohol or other preservative...
- History of plant systematics
The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lore usually being treated as part of the study of...
- International Association for Plant Taxonomy
The International Association for Plant Taxonomy promotes an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitates international communication of research between botanists, and oversees matters of uniformity and stability in plant names. The IAPT was founded on July 18 1950 at the Seventh...
- Taxonomy of cultivated plants