Botanical classification and nomenclature - an introduction (original) (raw)

Plant Taxonomy

Cebu Normal University, 2019

Kingdom plantae serves a variety of functions in the natural world, including recycling of nutrients, in the food chain, and provides oxygen to other organisms. On top of that, most of the world’s ecosystems have plant diversity. In tropical countries like the Philippines, this diversity is higher compared to other regions. It’s often not easy to find the name of a particular plant by just looking in a reference book, viewing photographs or reading a description. But when you see the actual specimen and use a magnifying glass or microscope to check the plant’s size or observe its characteristics you will then be able to make an identification. Humans have different faces and other physically distinguishing characteristics. Plants of the same species also differ in characteristics depending on the habitat and the individual plant. By looking at archived specimens in a herbarium, we can see the morphological variances without having to visit the habitat where the plant was collected. If a plant specimen is correctly collected and stored, a DNA sample can be extracted and analyzed to determine the plant’s genealogy and derivation. All specimens made properly by anyone for any purpose have an academic value.

Thinking in the Future of Plant Taxonomy

International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review

This review is a trial to summarize the history of plant taxonomy to understand the situation of the taxonomical works and their progression. Taxonomy starts as an artificial classification and gradually with the increase of knowledge, civilization and facilities, plant taxonomy developed. Here, the most affected steps in the progression of plant taxonomy have been mentioned. Starting from the oldest period of using vegetative, floral and anatomical characters to the most recent works on palynology, chemotaxonomy and molecular biological data. Thinking of the modern plant taxonomy has been mentioned in response to the environmental changes and peoples thinking. Experimental biology and breeding experiments must be done to understand the way of speciation and to protect the wild species from extinction. Taxonomy must be cooperating with ecology for better understanding of the changing in the taxonomic characters and to precise identifications. Taxonomists have to survey the vegetatio...

Report on Botanical Nomenclature Course organized by St. Xavier's College at Mumbai, India.

Harvard Papers in Botany, , 2023

The St. Xavier College (SXC), Mumbai, held its Botanical Nomenclature Course in February 2023. The course drew about 50 participants from across the State of Maharashtra. Rajendra Shinde, Principal (also known as administrative head) of the college and Director, Blatter Herbarium (BLAT), was the Convener; and Alok Gude, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Botany, served as the Coordinator and Facilitator. Participants were provided in advance with information on the latest International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants ("the Shenzhen Code") (Turland et al., 2018). Gandhi served as the instructor. He reviewed the physical structure of the Code: ranks, and names of taxa (Articles 1-5 and 16-28 of the Shenzhen Code); status, typification, starting points, conservation, and sanctioning (Articles 6-15); effective publication; validity of names (Articles 29-45); authorship citation (Articles 46-50); rejection of names (Articles 51-59); and orthography (Articles 60-62).

Recent books in taxonomy and biosystematics

Folia Geobotanica, 1998

This book is a handbook on the taxonomy of flowering plants at the level of orders and, in particular, families. Melchior's improvement of Engler's system published in "Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien" in 1964 was taken as its basis. The text on each family includes paragraphs on the following: the number of genera and species and the geographical range, important vegetative features, floral features, anatomy, embryology, chromosome number, chemical features, information on important genera and economically important plants.

Taxonomy-The Crucial yet Misunderstood and Disregarded Tool for Studying Biodiversity

Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species, 2014

This article presents a detailed overview about one of the most important yet neglected fields of science, the Taxonomy, its relevance and the various impediments faced by it in recent times. Since the period 2011-2020 has been declared the Biodiversity decade, the Convention of Biodiversity has laid major emphasis on the inventory and conservation of biodiversity. However, it is a fact that the ignorance about our faunal and floral wealth can be detrimental for our own survival. With the decline in taxonomy and the disappearance of taxonomists worldwide, we are slowly heading towards a state of uncertainty and chaos as most of our studies require an accurate identification of test organism which is not a job that anyone or everyone can do. Therefore, this article highlights the stringent measures that are required to be taken by the taxonomists as well the various policy making agencies towards the revival and promotion of Taxonomy.

Plant taxonomic species and their role in the workflow of integrative species delimitation

Kew Bulletin

SummaryThe species of classical taxonomy are examined with a view to their future role in integrative taxonomy. Taxonomic species are presented as the products of a cyclic workflow between taxonomists and biologists in general, and as the essential means to express the results of evolutionary biological research in a cognitive form which can be widely understood outside the systematics research community. In the first part, the procedures underlying the formation and structure of classical species taxon concepts are analysed and discussed, and this involves some passing reference to mental concepts as understood by cognitive psychologists. The second part considers the need for methodological advances in classical taxonomy in the form of computational modelling. It is argued that in order to accomplish this, species taxon concepts will need to be expressed as computable matrices in parallel to their conventional form, expanding their role in integrative taxonomy, facilitating the fe...

On The Use Of Taxonomic Concepts In Support Of Biodiversity Research And Taxonomy

Systematics Association Special Volumes, 2008

Future biodiversity research will make increased use of distributed data networks, scientific workflows, and powerful mechanisms for resolving a broad spectrum of primary data. This paper outlines the anatomy of an ecological niche modeling workflow and concomitant needs for taxonomic resolution. Contemporary Linnaean names and synonymy relationships are shown to be too imprecise too support these needs. Taxonomic concepts (i.e., the meanings of names as specified in a particular source) and a new vocabulary for expressing their semantic interrelationships are introduced as a more reliable long-term solution. The concept approach has so far been implemented with success in select taxonomic databases and regional floristic treatments. Quantitative analyses have added further weight to the claim that taxonomic concepts are suitable to overcome the problem of name/meaning disjunction inherent in conventional nomenclature. Therefore, full documentation of the taxonomic process will depend on a wider adoption of concept taxonomy. The concept approach will improve communication about nature without compromising any of the useful properties of the Linnaean system.