1. Created by Michael Ferguson 10-11-10
Plant taxonomy
Created by Michael Ferguson

2. 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

3. 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.
Ask the whole class the question “What is classification?” It was in the reading, but you should get an answer similar to the definition in the powerpoint. After you have taken a few answers, show the definition.
Ask the whole class to give you examples of how they use classification every day. If they are having trouble thinking of some, you can show them the example of classifying their clothes into shirts, sweaters, socks, etc. . . And putting those things in different drawers. We also classify movies, music, people, EVERYTHING. Make sure they understand that biologists are not the only ones who classify things, everyone does.

4. 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
What are some of the ways that we group plants into different kinds of groups?
What works for you?

5. Life cycle Annual Biennial Perennial
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.
One ways is to group plants according to how long they live.
Annuals take one growing season to grow from seed to seed;
BI-annuals need two years,
while perennials live on and on for many years, flowering and fruiting after a juvenile period.

6. Morphology or appearance
Evergreen, deciduous
Woody, herbaceous
Vines, trees, shrubs
Opposite or alternate leaves
Fruit, seed, etc. types
The physical appearance of various plant organs or structures can help us group plants.
We’ll get to more “mor-phology” in a minute!

7. Environmental When do you plant cool season crops in south Florida?
Xerophyte, halophyte, hydrophyte
Hardy, tender
Temperate, tropical, subtropical
Warm season, cool season
When do you plant cool season crops in south Florida?
What kind of environment does a plant thrive in? What kind of situations can a plant tolerate?

8. Usage Fruit, vegetable, ornamental
Think about a tomato. Is it a fruit? Or a vegetable?
Legally in some places it is a vegetable. Botanists will call it a fruit. So which is it?
In regard to the use of the final product, a vegetable is used during the main part of the meal, while a fruit can be used during mealtime or as a snack.
What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

9. All of these have “rose” in their common name
Common names Why are common names not very good for classifying plants?
All of these have “rose” in their common name
Right. How many different plants do you know of that have “rose” as part of their common name?
So, are common names a good way to classify plants?

10. 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?

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

12. “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.”

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

14. Hierarchical Classification
It starts very broad and gets more specific
7 hierarchies in our system:
Kingdom Very broad
Phylum (Division)
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species Very specific
Explain that kingdoms are the broadest classification and that species is the most specific. Scientists have divided all organisms into smaller and smaller groups until they have only 1 type of organism (a species). A phylum is called a division in the plant kingdom.
I suggest coming up with a sentence starting with the first letter of these hierarchies

15. 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
Here's the way scientists divide up organisms.
And this is only half of it

16. Scientific names Binomial nomenclature –Genus and species
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!
Good plant lists – even from nurseries - list plants Latin or botanical names.
You don’t have to know them, but feel comfortable with them.
Blame this guy for all this Latin talk:
I wrote a column for Linnaeus 300th Birthday in May 2007:

17. 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

18. CULTIVAR = CULTIVATED VARIETY
“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
A short biography of Michigan State Alumni and Cornell Dean LH Bailey can be found at:

19. 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
Burpee's Big Boy Hybrid is a popular home gardener tomato. It is a hybrid, introduced in 1949.
Lycopersion: “Wolf peach”, referring to belief that tomatoes were poisonous
esculentus: succulent, delicious, ripe
Also see “How Plants Get their Names” by LH Bailey, 1933
Here’s a website that might help make sense of this Greek stuff: The Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
Many other books and websites also have rough translations of botanical names – take a look at them.
Scientific names may tell you something about the plant.

20. 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”
Scientific nomenclature is under a constant state of change – this is typical of scientific knowledge.
As we learn more about plant relationships, the names may change.
Expect to see even more name changes as botanists begin to look at DNA for the relationships between plants.

21. 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
Once you know the family, there are web-based sites that can help you though the rest of the way.
Here's one from the University of Wisconsin,-Madison
A look at Wikpedia, on the web, lists 423 different plant families:

22. - Robert Frost, "The Rose Family”
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.
- Robert Frost, "The Rose Family”
Here are a few common plant families:
Anacardiaceae = Poison Ivy Family ;
Apocynaceae = Dogbane family ;
Cruciferae = mustard or Cole Crops ;
Fagaceae - Oak Family ;
Gramineae – former name for Poaceae ;
Labiatae = Mints ;
Leguminosae - former name for Fabaceae – Beans or peas ;
Rosaceae – Rose family, about 3,000-4,000 species

23. More Common plant Families
Asteraceae
Brassicaceae
Poaceae
Clusiaceae
Lamiaceae
Fabaceae
Arecaceae
Apiaceae
Zamiaceae
Asteraceae = Compositae Daisy family
Brassicaceae = Cruciferae (both names are allowed) Mustard & cole crops
Poaceae = Grasses & cereals
Clusiaceae = Guttiferae or Hypericaceae – Pitch Apple, St. John’s wort
Lamiaceae formerly Labitaceae - Mint family
Fabaceae - beans
Arecaceae - formerly Palmae or Palmaceae = palms
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae (both names are allowed) - parsley, carrot, and other aromatic plants with hollow stems and umbrella shaped flowers
Zamiaceae - the Cycads