Introduction to Plant Taxonomy- Brief Idea

This Power point presentation intends to explore the very basic i9dea of plant taxonomy for the beginners.

1. INTRODUCTION TO PLANT TAXONOMY
A presentation by
N.Sannigrahi,
Associate Professor, Department of Botany
Nistarini College, Purulia(W.B) India

2. ARISTATOLE-THE GREAT PHIOSOPHER

3. TAXONOMY
•Taxonomyisthesciencethatexplores,describes,names,andclassifiesall
organisms.Inthisintroductoryslide,Iwillhighlightthemajorstepsinthe
elaborationofthissciencethatprovidesbaselinedataforallfieldsofbiologyand
playsavitalroleforsocietybutisalsoanindependent,complex,andsound
hypothesis-drivenscientificdiscipline.
•Planttaxonomyisthesciencethatfinds,describes,identifies,classifies,and
namesplants.ThetermSystematicsisappliedtothestudyordescriptionof
variationsamongorganismsinordertoformulateaclassificationsystem.
Organismsthusarrangedintogroupsenablealargepopulationtobecategorised
andunderstood.PlanttaxonomyorSytematicshasundergonethroughfourmajor
approachesofstudy.Thesecouldbesummarizedas:1)PioneerorAlpha:This
phasewasearlyperiodsthatinvolvedexplorationsanddiscoveryofnewplants.
2)Consolidation:Inthisphase,thelargeamountofdatacollectedwasorganised
tounderstandclassification.

4. CAROLUS LINNEAUS(1007-1778)-Father of Binomial System

5. WHAT IS TAXONOMY
•3)Synthesis:Duringthisphase,theconsolidateddataandadequateplantmaterial
collectedwasclassifiedprincipallybasedonmorphologicalcharacters.Itattained
itspeakbylate1800’sandtosomeextentstillcontinues.4)Experimental:Using
differentscientifictoolsandmoderntechnology,thevastamountofcollected
datainterpretedinevolutionaryorphylogenetictermsisbeingcurrentlyanalysed.
Thisphaseisstillevolving.
•OBJECTIVES
•i)toprovideaconvenientmethodforidentificationandcommunication;
•ii)toproduceacoherentanduniversalsystemofclassification;
•iii)toprovideasingleLatin“scientific”nametoeveryplantandgroupsofplants
intheworld,bothlivingandfossil.
•iv)tomaintaininventoryoftheworldflora;and
•v)todemonstratetheevolutionaryimplicationsofplantdiversity;Thereare
fourimportantstepsintaxonomy:

6. TAXONOMY-THE EPIC OF THE PLANT WORLD

7. STEPS OF TAXONOMY
•Therearefourimportantstepsintaxonomy:1.CHARACTERISATION 2.
IDENTIFICATION3.CLASSIFICATION4.NOMENCLATURE
•Thesearetheprimaryactivitiesofataxonomist.Characterisationisthebasic
requirementforunderstandingthedifferentpartsoftheorganism.Itisthusa
descriptionofthecharacters.Bycomparingthecharactersoftwoormore
organisms,itbecomespossibletodifferentiatethem.Thisleadstoidentification.
Whentwoormoreorganismshavebeendifferentiated(identified)bytheir
characters,itbecomesnecessarytogroupthemintocategories.Thisisessentially
whattaxonomistsdowhentheyclassifyorganisms.Oncetheidentified
organismshavebeenclassified,itbecomesnecessarytonamethem.Thusthe
processoftaxonomyisalogicalsequenceofknowing(1)thecharactersofthe
organisms;(2)identifyingthemonthebasisofanunderstandingoftheir
characters;(3)classifyingthemintogroups;and(4)providingthemname

8. HOW TO IDENTIFY THESE PLANTS?

9. IDENTIFICATION
•Itisthedeterminationofthegrouptowhichaspecimenbelongs.Theprocessusually
includesadirectcompariszonofanunkownspecimenwiththealreadyclassified,
circumscribed,andnamedtaxa.Theprocessincludestheuseofkeys-ofvarioustypes,
computerbasedmethodsandvarietyofpolyclavespecies.Itisdonebythefollowing
methods:
•i.Thedeterminationofthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweentwospecimens,
•ii.Thedirectcomparisonofthefeaturesofaspecimeninhandwiththoseinkeysinorder
toarriveataname,
•iii.heassignmentofanunidentifiedtaxontoacorrectclassinanestablishedsystemof
classification,
•iv.Thedeterminationofanameforaparticularspecimeninrelationtoanestablished
systemofclassification,
•Mostlythemorphologicalcharactersalongwithanatomy,phytochemistry,cytology,
palenologyandmoleculardataareinvolvedfortheproperidentificationoftheunknown
spercimen.

10. HOW TO NAME THESE PLANTS?

11. NOMENCLATURE
•Nomenclatureisaveryimportantconstituentofplanttaxonomy.Itcanbedefined
asthesystemofnaminganobjectparticularlythatofbiologicalorigin.Weare
awarethatmanhasbeeninterestedinplantssinceprehistorictimes.Theplants
havebeengivennamesbytribesintheirownlanguages.Thesearecalled
commonorvernacularnames.
•Arrangementofdefinitenamestoplantsiscallednomenclature&itinvolvesthe
principlesgovernedbyrulesformulatedandadoptedbyICBNlistedfrormallyin
acode.ThemajorgoalofICBNistoprovideonecorrectnameforeachtaxon-
theunitoftaxonomy.
•Althoughanumberofrulesareaddressedinthenomenclatureofplantsbutthe
binomialsystemisbasedonC.Linnaeus(1707-1778),theswidishnaturalistin
thefirstedition-SpeciesPlantarum.Thenamecomprisestwoparts-
•Genericname&Specificepithetfollowingsomerules.
•e.g.OryzasativaL.ofRice

12. HOW TO CLASSIFY THESE PLANTS?

13. CLASSIFICATION
•Classificationalwaysfollowsidentification.Thuswhentwoormoregroupsofplants
havebeendifferentiated(identified)fromtheircharacters,itbecomesnecessaryto
recognizetheirrelationships.Thisleadstoplacingthegroupsindefinedcategories.The
endresultofthisleadstothesynthesisofasystemofclassification.
•Kingdom:PlantaeDivision:MagnoliophytaClass:AsteropsidaOrder:Asterales
Family:AsteraceaeGenus:HelianthusSpecies:annuusClassificationisthe
arrangementoforganismsintogroupshavingcommoncharacteristics.Thesegroupsare
thenarrangedaccordingtoasystem.Forexamplesimilarspeciesoffloweringplantsare
placedintoagenus(plural,genera);similargeneraaregroupedintofamilies;families
withcommonfeaturesarearrangedintoorders,ordersintoclassesandclassesinto
divisions.Classificationresultsintheplacingoforganismsintoahierarchyofranksor
categoriessuchasspecies,genera,andfamiliesandsoon.Indeed,classificationisboth,
aninformationstorageandretrievalsystemwithoutwhichscientificcommunication
wouldbeimpossible.

14. PLANT KINGDOM -AT A GLANCE

15. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
•Google for images
•Advanced Plant Taxonomy by A. K. Mondal
•A text book of Botany-Hait, Bhattacharya & Ghosh
•Plant Taxonomy –O. P. Sharma
•This presentation has been developed for the enrichment of online learning without
any financial interest. The author is grateful for all for having the pleasure of uses of
the content used in this presentation.

16. HOPE, YOU HAVE THE FLAVOR.THANKS A LOT.