History of Plant Taxonomy

1. Objectives and History
of Plant Taxonomy

2. Introduction to Plant Taxonomy
1 Definition
Science dealing with the study of classification, including its bases, principles. Rules
and procedures (Davis and Heywood, 1963).
Broader Definition
The study and description of variation in organisms, the investigation of causes and
consequences of this variation, and the manipulation of the data obtained to produce
a system of classification (Stace, 1980)
2 Importance
• Knowledge of Plant taxonomy guides the search of plants of potential commercial
importance

3. Objectives of Plant Taxonomy
1 Scheme of classification
Phenetic, Natural or Phylogenitic
2 Suitable method
Identification, Nomenclature and Description
3 Inventory of plant taxa
local, reginal and continental
4 Evolutionary process
local, reginal and continental
Relationship with other biological branches
Specify characteristics of recently
discovered species
5

4. History of Plant Taxonomy
1 Age of Theophrastus, Secundus, Dioscorides and Parasara
Theophrastus (370-285 B .C )
• Grandfather of the modern botany
• Greatest Botanical writer
• Student of plato and Aristotle
• Classified four groups
• Herbs, subshrubs, shrubs and trees
• Non flowering (Cryptogams) and flowering plants (Phanerogams)
• Calyx and corolla are modified leaves
• Differences between dicots and monocots
• Described 500 plants in details (Eg. Asparagus, Daucas and
Narcissus)
• Enquiry into plants & The causes of Plants
https://www.britannica.com/biograp
hy/Theophrastus

5. History of Plant Taxonomy
2 Age of Theophrastus, Secundus, Dioscorides and Parasara
Caius Plinius Secundus (23- 79 A.D.)
• Pliny the Elder
• Lawyer served in Roman Army
• 37 Volumes of Natural History
• Described Biological, Medical and Agricultural aspects (Pliny’s Natural
History)
• ‘Stamen’ – First used by Pliny
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caius_
Plinius_Secundus._Line_engraving._Wellcome_V

6. History of Plant Taxonomy
3 Age of Theophrastus, Secundus, Dioscorides and Parasara
Pedanios Dioscorides (62- 128 A.D.)
• Contemporary Pliny the Elder
• Physician in Roman Army
• His work is compiled in the form of Materia Medica
• Described 600 medicinal plants
• Emperor Flavius Ancius Olybrrius (500A.D.) presented to daughter
(Princes Juliana Anicia)
• Vienna under the name of Codex Juliana
• Plant names usage – Aloe, Aristolochia , Anemone, Phaseolus
https://www.ediblewildfood.com/bi
os/pedanius-dioscorides.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M
ateria_medica#/media/File:Dios
corides_De_Materia_Medica_By
zantium_15th_century.jpg

7. History of Plant Taxonomy
4 Age of Theophrastus, Secundus, Dioscorides and Parasara
Parasara (400 BC)
• Rigvedic Maharishi
• Earliest Indian describing plants in Scientific manner
• Albert E. Radford (1986) of USA to state that Parasara had some kind
of hand lens or microscope
• The book titled Vrikshayurveda
https://www.speakingtree.in/blog
/rishi-parashara

8. History of Plant Taxonomy
Taxonomy in Middle Ages or Medieval Ages
(about A.D. 1100–1500)
• Albertus Magnus (A.D. 1200–1280)
• Commonly called “Doctor Universalis” or “Aristotle of the Middle Ages”
• scheme of classification of plants that recognised monocots and dicots,
and separated nonvascular plants from vascular plants
• two Muslim scholars of twelfth century
• Ibn-Sina Canon of Medicine
• Ibn-al-Awwam of Spain who described over 600 species of plants
and interpreted accurately the sexuality in plants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alb
ertus_Magnus

9. Herbalists
• Medieval Ages (A.D. 1500) the history of plant taxonomy was influenced
tremendously by two things, the invention of printing and the development of
the science of navigation.
• Botanical medical books
• Books – herbals
• Authors - herbalists
• Navigation prompted sailors to go on long voyages - increased man’s
practical knowledge of plant taxonomy
• 16th century the first herbals published - Gart der
Gesundheit & HortusSanitalis without an attribution of authorship.
• The best known herbalists belong to Germany.
• Otto Brunfels (1464–1534) - herbal Herbarum Vivae Eicones,
• Jerome Bock (1489–1554) – herbal Neu Kreuterbuch,
• Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566) – herbal De Historia Stirpium.
German Fathers of
Botany
History of
Plant Taxonomy

10. Taxonomy during Seventeenth Century
• Andrea Caesalpino (1519–1603), an Italian, was the first scientist who
worked for achieving a ratio-nal scheme of classification of plants.
• Gaspar Bauhin (1560–1624), a Swiss botanist - Pinax Theatri Botanici
• Established the distinction between the concept of genus and species
and also initiated the use of the binomial nomenclature
• John Ray (1627–1705) - English taxonomist
• Methodus Plantarum Nova (1682) & HistoriaPlantarum(1686)
• Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) - Institutiones Rei Herbariae.
• He arranged over 9,000 kinds of plantsin about 700 genera grouping
them in classes.
History of
Plant Taxonomy

11. Period of Linnaeus
• The eighteenth century belongs clearly to Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) from
the point of view of history of taxonomy. He is the creator of the modern
system of nomenclature.
• A son of a Swedish clergyman
• Educated at the universities of Lund and Uppasala and obtained the degree
of M.D. in Netherlands
• After practicing medicine for a few years, he became a Professor of natural
history at the University of Uppasala
• originator of the sexual system of classification
• 24 classes, mainly on the basis of number, length, union and certain other
characters of stamens.
• He was the first to use consistently the binomial system of nomenclature
• Species Plantarum.
• The Linnaean Society of London, and journals, such as Linnaea.
History of
Plant Taxonomy

12. History of Plant Taxonomy
Natural System Approach
• An approach to a natural system of classification first took seed in France
• Michel Adanson (1727–1806) – natural characters
• Theory of Adanson was later recognised as phenetic taxonomy
• The first scheme of classification based on natural characters was presented
in 1789 by Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu (1748–1836) - France.
• All the four members of A.L. de ]ussieu’s family (Antoine, Bernard, Joseph,
and Antoine-Laurent)
• He presented his scheme of classification in his Genera Plantarum
Secundum Ordines Naturales Disposita
• AugustinPyramus de Candolle (1778–1841)- new classification of plants in
his book Theorie elementaire.
• A.P. de Candolle in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis
in1816 (all available higher plants in the world)
• The same project was continued by his son, Alphonse (1806–1893) until
1873
• Highly recognised natural system of classification was proposed by George
Bentham (1800–1884) and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911)
• Book - Genera Plantarum
https://www.brainkart.com/art
icle/Bentham-and-Hooker-
%28Natural%29-system-of-
classification_32974/

13. History of
Plant Taxonomy
The Phylogenetic Approach
• Publication of Darwin’s theory of organic evolution in 1859 in the book On
the Origin of Species
• Development of modern systematics
• Botanists started working on the concept of evolution regarding the
development of a classification system of plants
• S. Endlicher (1805–1849) and A.W. Eichler (1839–1889) - two German
botanists,
• They proposed the phylogenetic systems of the classifica-tion of plant
• Later modified and developed by A. Engler (1844–1930) and K. Prantl
(1849–1893)
• published in several volumes in the form
of Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien
(between 1887 and 1915)
• Majority of the present day botanical institutions and publications follow
Engler and Prantl’s scheme of classification
• C.E. Bessey (1845–1915) - University of Nebraska. Classified Flowering
plants on the basis of their evolutionary relationships.
• He categorised them on the basis of characters of primitiveness and
advanceness.
• These guiding characters or principles were named as ‘dicta’ by Bessey
• Richardvon Wettstein (1862–1931), an Austrian botanist, and Hans Hallier
(1868–1938), a German botanist = suggested phylogenetic systems of
classification
• John Hutchinson (1884–1972), a British botanist - phylogenetic system of
plant classification
• two volumes of The Families of Flowering Plants (1926)
• the 3rd edition in 1973

14. Some Current Contributions
• Four major systems of plant classification
• Armen Takhtajan (1910– ) of Leningrad (Russia),
• Arthur Cronquist (1919– ) of New York (USA)
• Rolf Dahlgren (1919– ) of Copenhagen (Denmark)
• Robert F. Thorne (1920– ) of Claremont(USA)
• Armen Takhtajan (1910– ) of Botanical Institute of Academy of Science,Leningrad,
proposed a system of classification of flowering plants in Russian in 1954
• 1969 - Flowering Plants: Origin and Dispersal.
• 1980 - A new version of his classification is published in Botanical Review
• Arthur Cronquist (1919– ) of New York Botanical Garden proposed a comprehensive
system of classification of angiosperms.
• 1968 - The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants
• 1981 - “An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants”.
• Rolf Dahlgren (1919– ) of Botanical Museum of University of Copenhagen proposed a
new scheme of classification of angiosperms.
• 1975 - Botanische Notiser,
• 1980 - the revised and improved versions - Botantcal Journal of Linnean Society
• 1981 - Phytochemistry and Angiosperm Phylogeny
• 1983 - Nordiac Journal of Botany
• Robert F. Thorne (1920– ) of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California,
published a phylogenetic system of classification of plants.
• 1968 = Aliso,
• 1981- the revised and enlarged outlines of Thorne’s scheme were published in
Phytochemistry and Phylogeny
• 1983 - Nordiac Journal of Botany.
• Thorne has tried to establish the phylogenetic relationshipsamong the higher taxa of
flowering plants.
History of
Plant Taxonomy

15. Conclusion and Future Directions
1 Summary
The history of plant taxonomy reflects a dynamic interplay between exploration,
scientific discovery, and evolving methodologies, ultimately contributing to our
understanding of the rich diversity of plant life on Earth
2 Future Directions
The future of plant taxonomy is likely to be dynamic, interdisciplinary, and shaped
by technological innovations and global collaboration. As the field continues to
evolve, it will play a crucial role in addressing environmental challenges and
deepening our understanding of plant life on Earth.

16. 1. Who is considered the grandfather of modern botany?
2. Who was a student of both Plato and Aristotle, contributing significantly to the field of botany?
3. What are the four groups into which Theophrastus classified plants?
4. What profession did Pliny the Elder hold before his contributions to natural history?
5. How many volumes did Pliny the Elder write for his extensive work on natural history?
6. Who was the first to use the term 'stamen' in the context of plant taxonomy?
7. Which monumental work by Pliny the Elder covered a wide range of subjects, including biological, medical, and
agricultural aspects?
8. Who was a contemporary of Pliny the Elder, sharing a similar timeframe of contributions to natural history?
9. How many medicinal plants did Dioscorides describe in his notable work?
10.Which plant name, used by Dioscorides, is still in usage today?
11.Who is considered the Rigvedic Maharishi known for describing plants in a scientific manner around 400 BC?
12.What is the title of the book attributed to Parasara, focusing on the knowledge of trees and plants?
13.Who is commonly called "Doctor Universalis" or "Aristotle of the Middle Ages"?
14.What was Albertus Magnus's scheme of classification for plants that recognized monocots and dicots and separated
Questions

17. 1.What is the name of the work by Ibn-Sina in the field of Taxonomy ?
2.How many species of plants did Ibn-al-Awwam of Spain describe?
3.What is another name for Albertus Magnus, highlighting his significance in the Middle Ages?
4.In what century did the history of plant taxonomy undergo significant influence from printing and navigation?
5.What type of books played a crucial role in the history of plant taxonomy during the Medieval Ages?
6.Name two herbals published in the 16th century without an attribution of authorship.
7.Which country is associated with the best-known herbalists in the 16th century?
8.What herbal did Otto Brunfels publish in the 16th century?
9.Who authored the herbal "Neu Kreuterbuch" in the 16th century?
10.Which herbalist published "De Historia Stirpium" in the 16th century?
11.Who established the distinction between the concept of genus and species and initiated the use of binomial
nomenclature?
A) Andrea Caesalpino B) Joseph Pitton de Tournefort C) John Ray E) Gaspar Bauhin
12,. Which scientist wrote the book "Methodus Plantarum Nova" in 1682?
A) Andrea Caesalpino B) Gaspar Bauhin C) John Ray D) Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
Questions