1. The Science of Plant Classification

2. GOALS of TAXONOMY IDENTIFY all members of the plant kingdom NAME all plants ARRANGE plants into a HIERARCHY that indicates their TRUE relationship to another

3. HISTORY of PLANT CLASSIFICATION ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION NATURAL CLASSIFICATION PHYLOGENTIC CLASSIFICATION

4. ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION Form and Use Ancient Greeks THEOPHRASTUS (371-287 BCE) DIOSCORIDES (40-90 CE)

5. ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION Middle Ages Monocots vs. dicots Vascular vs. non-vascular Descriptive names Herbalists herbariums

6. ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION LINNAEUS (1707-1778 CE) Binomial Nomenclature System based on the flower and sexual parts

7. NATURAL CLASSIFICATION System based on MORPHOLOGY of plant parts (shape or form) French Botanists Used today, although not considered “true relationships”, but closer

8. PHYLOGENETIC CLASSIFICATION Based on TRUE GENETIC relationships of plants CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882 CE) Origin of Species (1859) Theory of Evolution explained Natural Selection as a means of adaptation

9. TAXONOMY TODAY Made up of NATURAL and PHYLOGENETIC classification Governed by International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) Rules for naming plants Revised as new evidence becomes available Dynamic – ever changing system Based on observations and systematic gathering of evidence