Systematic botany is primarily concerned with classifying and naming plants, assessing their relationships to one another, as well as gaining insights into the nature of species. In earlier times the lack of a systematic process for determining the names and groupings of plants into families, genera, species, etc., was the source of considerable confusion among botanists, biologists, physicians, pharmacists, herbalists, and others. In the mid-1700s the Swedish biologist Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) developed what became the modern classification system for plants and animals and the generally accepted method for naming them, i.e., the binomial system of nomenclature.1 Now generally referred to as the Linnaean hierarchical system of classification, organisms are placed into a series of more inclusive categories such as species, genera, tribes, families, orders, etc., based on their characteristics. In the case of plants, features of their flowers, leaves, fruits, seeds, and now, chromosomes, and so onare evaluated in this regard. Each kind of organism (i.e., all similar individuals that in nature interbreed) is assigned a binomial (genus name plus specific epithet), generally referred to as the species name or scientific name. Similar species are placed in the same genus, similar genera might be grouped in a tribe, and similar tribes within a family.
展开▼
