Plant taxonomy Created by Michael Ferguson

Classification Hokey Pokey Everyone remove your left shoe and put the shoes in a pile in the back of the room. Now take off your right shoe and put the shoes in a pile in front of the SAE wall. Classify the shoes: -starting with two main groups (or categories) -then pick one of the two piles and break it down into categories -have one person in your group write down what you have categorized and why

What is classification? To classify means to group similar things How do you use classification every day? Everyone uses classification all the time, not just biologists.

Plant classification (Taxonomy) Taxonomy is the classification of living organisms There are many methods for identifying or grouping plants for communication How can we group plants? life cycle Morphology (how it grows and what it looks like) Environment Usage

Life cycle Annual – Short-lived plant. The entire life cycle is completed in one growing season. Biennial – Two seasons to complete life cycle Perennial – Live from year to year, either woody or herbaceous.

Morphology or appearance Evergreen, deciduous Woody, herbaceous Vines, trees, shrubs Opposite or alternate leaves Fruit, seed, etc. types We’ll get to more “mor-phology” in a minute!

Environmental Xerophyte, halophyte, hydrophyte Hardy, tender Temperate, tropical, subtropical Warm season, cool season When do you plant cool season crops in south Florida?

Usage Fruit, vegetable, ornamental What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

Common names Why are common names not very good for classifying plants? All of these have “rose” in their common name All of these have “rose” in their common name

Common names are misleading All of these share the same common name ‘Yellow Bell’ -they are very different in the way they grow and how they are used Why do experienced landscape architects use scientific names instead of common names on landscape plans? Why should experienced horticulturists know both common names and scientific name of Plants?

AAAHHHH!!!!! STOP THE MADNESS! ORDER IN THE COURT! SEND US A SAVIOR FROM THIS COMMON NAME MADNESS

“My name is Carolus Linnaeus I have cometh from Sweden to save the horticultural world from confusion!” What do you say? Let’s give him a statue For his hard work! “You may ask, besides having a fye wig that the chicks dig, what did I do to earn such recognition? Well let me tell you.”

Linneaus a Swedish botanist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy.binomial nomenclaturetaxonomy Developed the use of Latin to name the Genus and species of plants. Latin is a dead language that does not change.

Hierarchical Classification It starts very broad and gets more specific 7 hierarchies in our system: KingdomVery broad Phylum (Division) Class Order Family Genus SpeciesVery specific I suggest coming up with a sentence starting with the first letter of these hierarchies

Scientific nomenclature Kingdom Animalia Plantae Phylum (several, those with horticultural interest -) Pterodophyta – spore bearing plants (ferns) Spermatophyta – seed bearing plants Class Gymnospermae – naked seeds Angiospermae Subclass Monocotyledonae (monocots) - 49,000 types Dicotyledonae (dicots) - 237,000 types And this is only half of it....

Scientific names Order Family - ‘aceae’ usual ending – First place you may start in identification Genus Species – Authority - Cultivar- cultivated variety Variety - botanical variety etc. Binomial nomenclature –Genus and species You can thank Linnaeus for all this!

Binomial Nomenclature Think of the Genus name of a plant as the noun and the species name as an adjective. Ex: Common Name: Red Maple Scientific Name:Acer rubrum In Latin Acer means: rubrum means: red

CULTIVARCULTIVAR CULTIVAR = CULTI VATED VAR IETY “ Assemblage of cultivated plants which is clearly distinguished by any characters and which, when reproduced (sexually or asexually) retains its distinguishing characters.” - Liberty Hyde Bailey *Botanical varieties naturally breed true from seed * Cultivars are asexually cloned or by controlled sexual crossing of breeding lines

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum L. Big Boy Order Solanales Family Solanaceae Genus Lycopersicon species esculentum Botanical variety esculentum Naming authority L. [ for Linnaeus] Cultivar Big Boy Scientific names may tell you something about the plant.

Even more on scientific nomenclature Most commonly used system of nomenclature As you move down though the sections, plants are more closely related Based on flower and plant morphology How do I write a scientific name: Genus is capitalized species is lower-case Both words are italicized Cultivars and varieties are in single quotes and not italicized ex: “New Dawn”

It’s all in the Family Being able to identify an unknown plant to its family is a valuable skill Look at botanical characteristics and see if it reminds you of another plant Look at references under the name of the family to speed up your search

Common Plant Families Anacardiaceae Apocynaceae Cruciferae Fagaceae Gramineae Labiatae Leguminosae Rosaceae The rose is a rose and was always a rose; But the theory now goes That the apple's a rose, And the pear is, and so's The plum, I suppose. The dear only knows What will next prove a rose. You, of course, are a rose, but were always a rose.rose - Robert Frost, "The Rose Family”Robert Frost

More Common plant Families Asteraceae Brassicaceae Poaceae Clusiaceae Lamiaceae Fabaceae Arecaceae Apiaceae Zamiaceae