Regional Flora- Introduction to Plant Taxonomy
Plant taxonomy
Palynology
Molecular Biology
Paleobotany
Biochemistry
Morphology
Genetics
Anatomy
Physiology
Taxonomy
Forestry
Ecology
Evolution
Population Biology
Agriculture
Economic
Botany
Biogeography
Anthropology
Horticulture
Taxonomists use information about:
-structure
-chemical composition
-physiology
-ecology
-genetics
-evolution
-geographical distribution
Why should you study taxonomy?
-positions in research and teaching
-naturalists in parks and recreational areas
-inspectors of agricultural products
-plant breeding
-environmental monitoring
-habitat restoration
Plant taxonomy involves three general processes:
-identifying
-classifying
-cataloging
Identification of plants can take place in several ways-
A dichotomous key uses a series of paired mutually exclusive statements that divides a set of objects
into progressively smaller subsets.
Classification-Botanical nomenclature
Scientific names
Generic name: Amorphophallus
Species name: titanum
(specific epithet)
Scientific names are generally based
in classical languages such as
Greek or Latin.
Amorphophallus titanum
The organization of objects into groups and rankings is classification.
Grouping
Ranking
-The organization of the groups into a nested hierarchy of
small groups within progressively more inclusive groups.
Cataloging
Around the world there are many important plant collections known as herbaria (sing. herbarium).
Herbaria
Herbarium specimens
Botanical Nomenclature
Nomenclature
the giving and using of names
Historically, there have been two independent kinds of nomenclature.
Common names
Through the ages, humans have given organisms common names of local relevance, which often reflect
appearance and usefulness.
Disadvantages
Scientific names
Scientific names developed during the period from the 13th-18th century.
The language of learned men of the day was Latin.
Carl von Linné, Alexander
Roslin, 1775. Currently
owned by and displayed at
the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences.
The process of naming plants varied from botanist to botanist.
The name of a species consisted of a generic name (noun) followed by 1 or more Latin modifiers.
This species description is an example of a polynomial.
- Name
- Diagnosis
Ex: buttercup
Ranunculus calycibus retroflexis, pedunculis falcatis,
caule Erecto, foliis compositis
“the buttercup with bent-back sepals, curved flower stalks,
erect stems and compound leaves.”
Scientific names – (Binomial system)
Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1779)
(originally Carl von Linné)
Botanists gradually adopted a set of standardized procedures for naming plants
Linnaeus published a book called Philosophia Botanica
in 1751 with principles for botanical nomenclature.
Scientific names – (Binomial system)
Generic name: Amorphophallus
Species name: titanum
(specific epithet)
Scientific names are generally based in classical languages such as Greek or Latin.
Today, we have a set of formalized rules for naming plants.
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
Names of Taxa above the Genus Level
Carl von Linné, Alexander
Roslin, 1775. Currently
owned by and displayed at
the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences.
Species names
Two-word name consisting of:
Ex: Magnolia grandiflora
Generic names
©Jeff McMillian. Courtesy
of Almost Eden. United
States, LA.
- Generic name (genus name) is treated as a Latin noun.
Latin nouns have a grammatical gender.
The ending of a name often indicates its grammatical
gender.
Names ending in –a have feminine gender.
Ex: Potentilla
Names ending in –us are commonly masculine.
Ex: Lupinus
Names ending in –um are neuter.
Ex: Cirsium
red pine, (Pinus resinosa)
white pine, (Pinus strobus)
jack pine, (Pinus banksiana)
Specific epithet
Scientific names are often written with their author or authors.
The author(s) are the individual or individuals that have
named the plants.
Lotus corniculatus L.
Lotus heermannii (Dur. & Hilg.) Greene
Generic name : Lotus
The first specific epithet means “bearing a horn-like
projection”
The second specific epithet was named after A.L. Heerman
(Heerman’s lotus)
Lotus corniculatus L.
The author for the first species is Linnaeus
Lotus heermannii (Dur. & Hilg.) Greene
The species was originally named by E.M. Durand and T.C. Hilgard.
Greene transferred the specific epithet heermannii from the genus Hosackia to the genus Lotus.
Durand and Hilgard (Dur. & Hilg.) are the parenthetical authors.
Greene is the combining author.
Intraspecific Taxa
Taxonomists sometimes encounter species that are variable.
If these variations represent geographical races, a botanist may recognize them as:
Intraspecific Taxa
Subspecies
Zea mays subspecies parviglumis
Zea mays subspecies mays
Scientific names of commercial ornamental or garden plants are often followed by a variety or cultivar name.
Variety
Ex: Lupinus densiflorus var. aureus
Form
Ex:
Centaurium muhlenbergii (Griseb.) Wight ex Piper forma albiflorum (Suksd.) St. John 1937
Cultivar
Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicum
Pink Berkley tie-dye
Cherokee purple
http://www.rareseeds.com/pink-berkeley-tie-dye-tomato/ http://www.rareseeds.com/cherokee-purple-tomato/
Hybrids have distinct scientific names
Hybrid
Hybrids that maintain characteristics different from their parent and do not
crossbreed with parents are given their own species names.
Ex: orchid hybrid
Laeliocatteya
Named for parent genera - Laelio and Catteya
The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
The rules for use of scientific names are maintained and updated periodically at meetings of botanists called
International Botanical Congresses.
The updated rules and other guidelines are published after each Botanical Congress in a new edition of the
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
Botanical Nomenclature
Botanical nomenclature is independent of zoological nomenclature.
Naming a Newly Discovered Plant
There are several steps that a taxonomist must follow to validly publish the name of a new plant.
1. The name must be properly constructed and it must not be a name anyone has ever used before.
2. The taxonomist must clearly indicate the rank of the taxon.
3. A specimen must be designated as the holotype.
holotype – a specimen deposited in a specific herbarium designated by the author of the taxon to
serve as the permanent reference point for the name of the taxon.
4. The name and accompanying information must be effectively published.
HOLOTYPE: Permanent slide deposited in the herbarium of the University of Arkansas at Monticello
(UAM), designated M.Fawley 2012-1.
ISOTYPE: Strain CAUP H 547, cryopreserved at the Culture Collection of Algae of Charles University
in Prague, Czech Republic.
TYPE LOCALITY: Lake Chicot, Chicot County, Arkansas, USA. North Basin. 33°22’6.11” N,
91°11”54.45”W.
ETYMOLOGY: Named for Dr. Edmond J. Bacon, Professor Emeritus at the University of Arkansas at
Monticello, who has studied Lake Chicot for many years and introduced us to the
site.
Study outline- Introduction to Plant Taxonomy/Botanical Nomenclature
-What is plant taxonomy?
-Understand International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and the concept of taxonomic rank
-Know the importance of a herbarium and use of dichotomous keys
-Know terms-nomenclature, common name, scientific name
-Understand the disadvantages of common names
-Understand the importance of scientific names (polynomial system) and the Linnaean system (binomial system)
-Understand the different parts of a species name-generic name, specific epithet, author, parenthetical author,
combining author
-Understand intraspecific taxa; Know terms-subspecies, varieties, form, cultivar, hybrid
-Understand different steps that a taxonomist must follow to validly publish the name of a new plant.
-What is a holotype?