Our Garden Today Families in the Systematic Beds

The systematics garden at Smith College has been Magnoliids Annonaceae, Custard-Apple | Calycanthaceae, Strawberry–shrub Systematics Garden reorganized three times, in 1894, 1980s and 2014, Magnoliaceae, Magnolia | Saururaceae, Lizard’s–tail reflecting the understanding of classification at the Aristolochiaceae, Birthwort | Lauraceae, Laurel time. The current design is an interpretation of a genetics Basal Monocots and phylogeny (evolutionary) based organization Araceae, Arum | Acoraceae, Sweetflag | Dioscoreaceae, Yam scheme. Our systematics garden contains angiosperms Monocots (flowering ) and therefore does not show species Smilacaceae, Catbrier | Amaryllidaceae, Amaryllis | Liliaceae, Lily THE BOTANIC GARDEN Colchicaceae, Autumn | Iridaceae, Iris that evolved earlier, such as the ginkgo, one of which is Asparagaceae, Asparagus | Xanthorrhoeaceae, Kangaroo Paw OF SMITH COLLEGE growing in the midst of the systematics garden, and Melanthiaceae, Brunchflower |Alliaceae , Onion ferns, which can be seen next to Burton Hall. Monocot Commelinids The garden is laid out in a visual representation of a Poaceae, Grass | Commelinaceae, Spiderwort | Cyperaceae, Sedge , which represents the lineages of Cannaceae, Canna | Heliconiaceae, Heliconia organisms as they evolve through time. It reflects current Zingiberaceae, Ginger | Sterelitziaceae, Bird-of-Paradise concepts put forth by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, Basal , Poppy | , Lardizabala an international collaborative of systematic botanists Buxaceae, Boxwood | Trichodendraceae, Yama-Kuruma Everything in the ends or the “” of the tree is living , Barberry | , Buttercup today and therefore this arrangement does not show their ancestors but rather how related each group is to Saxifragaceae, Saxifrage | Grossulariaceae, Currant another. The sign post represents the base of the Paeoniaceae, | Crassulaceae, Stonecrop angiosperm tree. The common ancestor of all of the Malvids angiosperms would be here, if it were alive today. Each Anacardiaceae, Sumac | Malvaceae, Mallow | Rutaceae, Rue Brassicaceae, Mustard | Onagraceae, Evening Primrose dotted line of granite stone represents generations of adaptations and genetic changes that led to the groups Fabids Rosaceae, Rose | Hypericaceae, St. John’s-wort at the end of the line. Those beds feature today’s Phyllanthaceae, | Linaceae, flowering plants, each the result of more than 120 million Begoniaceae, Begonia| , Violet years of evolution since the rise of angiosperms. In each Cucurbitaceae, cucumber | Fabaceae, Bean bed we have planted representatives from a group of Euphorbiaceae, Spurge | Geraniaceae, Geranium families that are closely related to each other. Nearby Caryophyllales beds are more closely related to each other than to beds Cactaceae, Cactus | Portulacaceae, Purslane Phytolaccaceae, Pokeweed | Caryophyllaceae, Pink that are farther away from each other. Polygonaceae, Buckwheat | Plumbaginaceae, Leadwort Angiosperms have been constantly evolving into Amaranthaceae, Amaranth new species since they first arose. Three significant Ericales groups split off over time. Basal groups are those that Polemoniaceae, Phylox | Primulaceae, Primrose evolved and split off earlier. The first group is the basal Balsaminaceae, Touch-me-not | Ericaceae, Heath angiosperms, which include the magnoliids. This group Lamids Boraginaceae, Borage | Plantaginaceae, Plantain broke off from the angiosperm line and continued to Apocynaceae, Dogbane | Verbenaceae, Verbena evolve in a different direction. Later the monocots broke Gentianaceae, Gentian | Solanaceae, Potato off and continued to evolve. Lastly the eudicots, or true Scrophulariaceae, Figwort | Lamiaceae, Mint dicots, broke off from the tree. Today the eudicots are Campanulids the most diverse group of flowering plants. Caprifoliaceae, Honeysuckle | Apiaceae, Carrot Campanulaceae, Bellflower | Asteraceae, Aster History of Plant Classification Classification of Animals Biodiversity and Conservation

Humans are constantly attempting to understand All animals have a scientific name, including your The field of conservation biology relies heavily on and explain the natural world. When it comes to living housecat, Felis catus. It is in the animal kingdom and the classification of organisms to make policy decisions. things, we try to impose by categorizing in the class Mammalia. Yet there are many different Preservation of biodiversity and the development of organisms into groups. There is some artificiality to this, mammals. To distinguish a cat from a lion, wolf, bioengineering rely on the understanding of genetic with boundaries drawn when they are actually not so kangaroo, or whale, we divide them further into relationships. Plant biodiversity is crucial in combating clear. Evolution is a spectrum and all organisms are additional subcategories, each with animals more plant diseases and developing new economically ultimately related to each other. related to each other. The Felidae includes all important plants for food, medicine, fiber, etc. We Throughout history humans have created a variety cats including jaguars, tigers, and bobcats, all sharing cannot bring back a species once it is extinct. Protecting of organizational systems, each with a different goal. certain characteristics. Within the cat family the species required a system for identifying plants and The initial classification systems were based on Felis, includes small cats, including the black-footed cat keeping track of those that are threatened. functionality: medicinal, edible and poisonous plants and Chinese desert cat. were categorized by their purpose. The Greeks transitioned to morphological classification, with plants Classification of Plants sorted by physical characteristics. As evolution became Sugar maples, known for the better understood, systems changed to reflect how sap that is used to make maple plants are genetically related. syrup, are in the plant (1707- kingdom, placed in the 1778) created the scientific division. All naming system using maples are in the genus binomial nomenclature Acer, a part of the family (genus + specific epithet, in Aceraceae. Sugar maples Latin), e.g., humans are Homo have the specific epithet sapiens. This format is still of saccharum while universally accepted, rubrum is the specific governed by internationally epithet for red maple. agreed upon rules. Each Thus the sugar maple identified species is given a is Acer saccharum. unique name, enabling scientists to communicate without ambiguity. Carl Linnaeus

References

Simpson, Michael G. Plant Systematics. 2nd ed. New York: Elsevier Inc, 2010. Print. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group website A drawing explaining the Linnaeus system Differences in structure between Monocots and Eudicots http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/