Biol 317: Plant Classification & Identification Summer 2012
Instructor: Ryan Miller Office: 408 Hitchcock Office hours: TTH 10-11am or by appointment Email: [email protected] Course website: http://courses.washington.edu/bot113/summer/ TA: Pat Lu-Irving
Peer TAs: Erica, Marina, Tasha, Jacob Nomenclature
Why naming is important? George Nomenclature
Why naming is important? George
http://popular-cartoon.blogspot.com/2011/02/george-of-jungle.html Nomenclature
Why naming is important? George George Bush Nomenclature
Why naming is important? George George Bush
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush Nomenclature
Why naming is important? George George Bush George W. Bush
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush Nomenclature
Problems with common names No rules for usage! One kind of plant will have many different common names. The same common name may be associated with many different plant species.
“potato” = Solanum tuberosum, Dioscorea bulbifera, Apios americana, Dioscorea batatas, Solanopteris bifrons, Plectranthus rotundifolius, Allium cepa, Gastrodia sesamoides, Ipomoea batatas, Solanum macranthum, Ipomoea pandurata, Solanum jasminoides, Dioscorea esculenta (Mabberley 1997) http://tombutton.users.btopenworld.com/potato_1.jpg Early Attempts at Formal Nomenclature
1700s: Very specific, descriptive names Up to a dozen Latin adjectives Groups identified: 9,000 species 700 genera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_canina Early scientific names for the common wild briar rose Rosa sylvestris inodora seu canina (“odorless woodland dog rose”) Rosa sylvestris alba cum rubore, folio glabro (“pinkish white woodland rose with hairless leaves”) Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus
Binomial nomenclature Genus + species names = scientific name e.g., Homo sapiens, Solanum tuberosum or Homo sapiens, Solanum tuberosum
Carolus Linnaeus, posing in costume after expedition to Lapland in 1732. - National Geographic Linnaeus System “Species Plantarum” (1753)
Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus
“The actual petals of a flower contribute nothing to generation, serving only as the bridal bed which the great Creator has so gloriously prepared, adorned with such precious bedcurtains, and perfumed with so many sweet scents in order that the Carolus Linnaeus, detail of a portrait by bridegroom and bride may therein Alexander Roslin, 1775; in the Svenska Porträttarkivet, Stockholm. celebrate their nuptuals with the greater solemnity.” From his ‘Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum’ Hierarchical system
Kingdom Plantae Phylum Magnoliophyta Class Magnoliopsida Order Solanales Family Solanaceae Genus Solanum Species Solanum tuberosum L. Hierarchical system
Kingdom Plantae Phylum Magnoliophyta Class Magnoliopsida Order Solanales Family Solanaceae Genus Solanum Species Solanum tuberosum L. Flexible system
Kingdom Plantae Phylum Magnoliophyta Class Magnoliopsida Subclass Asteridae Order Solanales Family Solanaceae Subfamily Solanoideae Tribe Solaneae Genus Solanum Species Solanum tuberosum L. Subspecies S. tuberosum ssp. andigena Classification
What is Classification? The sorting of things into groups and the assigning of names to those groups. Biological science - The grouping of organisms into categories based on shared characteristics or traits.
Why is this important? Dealing with large amounts of information. Understanding and communication about the natural world. Power of prediction. To make sense of comparative studies… prevents comparing ‘apples to oranges’ Classification is the way we communicate about biological diversity! How do we classify organisms?
Group organisms based on how alike they appear…
Linnaeus’ Sexual System: Presence/absence, arrangement, and number of sexual parts as the basis for classification: -24 classes for all plants, basis on stamens -Classes grouped into orders, basis on styles
http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/ How do we classify organisms?
Group organisms based on how alike they appear…
Linnaeus’ Sexual System: Presence/absence, arrangement, and number of sexual parts as the basis for classification: -24 classes for all plants, basis on stamens -Classes grouped into orders, basis on styles
http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/ How do we classify organisms?
Group organisms based on how alike they appear…
Today, many characters are used: 1. Visible morphology - structures 2. Anatomy – internal or microscopic structures 3. Chemicals – presence/absence, pigments, toxins, etc. 4. Genetics – chromosome, DNA similarity Linnaeus’ Classification
“Species Plantarum” (1753)
100 years before anyone had heard of the idea of evolution. At the time, people thought species were static or unchanging.
Linnaeus’ system was artificial.
Artificial classification - with no regard for evolutionary relationships. (e.g., any classification of things other than living things would have to be artificial). Natural Classification
Charles Darwin (1859 – On the Origin of Species) was the first to suggest that any classification of life should be “genealogical” and would naturally be hierarchical. Charles Darwin (1859) Haekel’s tree of life (1866)
http://universe-review.ca/I10-70-Darwin.jpg
http://plus.maths.org/issue46/features/phylogenetics/Haeckel.png
Wikipedia commons Systematics as a process
Since Darwin, scientists have placed more and more emphasis on developing natural classification systems that reflect the evolutionary relationships of a group of organisms.
Systematics = the study of biological diversity and its evolutionary history. Basic activities include classification and naming (taxonomy).
Just like any other kinds of science, systematics is a process. The goal to classify life based on its evolutionary history is an ongoing process.
As a result, classifications are dynamic… Classifications are dynamic…
http://www.wpclipart.com/food/fruit/tomato/tomato.png
Before: Lycopersicon esculentum Now: Solanum lycopersicum
(Spooner et al., 1993) Green plants
Green plants
Land plants
Bryophytes Tracheophytes (vascular plants)
Seed plants
“Green algae”
Gymnosperms Angiosperms
ycophytes
Mosses
Hornworts
Liverworts
Ferns L Green plants
Green plants
Land plants
Bryophytes Tracheophytes (vascular plants)
Seed plants
“Green algae”
Gymnosperms Angiosperms
ycophytes
Mosses
Hornworts
Liverworts
Ferns L Conifers
(Stefanovic et al. 1998) Conifers
(Gadek et al. 2000)