KKuulliiaahh BBiioollooggii 11.. TTaaxxoonnoommyy

MahasiswaMahasiswa semestersemester pendek-pendek- 20082008 CCLLAASSSSIIFFIICCAATTIIOONN

. TheThe classificationclassification ofof plantsplants (and(and animals)animals) isis calledcalled TAXONOMYTAXONOMY . TaxonomyTaxonomy isis thethe sciencescience ofof identifyingidentifying andand namingnaming speciesspecies andand organisingorganising themthem intointo systemssystems ofof classificationclassification . TheThe sciencescience ofof taxonomytaxonomy andand systematicssystematics involvesinvolves classifyingclassifying organismsorganisms accordingaccording toto naturalnatural andand evolutionaryevolutionary relationships.relationships. TheThe systemsystem inin widewide useuse datesdates backback toto thethe eighteentheighteenth century,century, whenwhen SwedishSwedish botanistbotanist CarlCarl LinnaeusLinnaeus deviseddevised aa wayway ofof naming,naming, ranking,ranking, andand classifyingclassifying organisms.organisms. is arguably the world's oldest profession, and naming and classifying what's around us is part of the human condition. Scientific naming began with the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in the eighteenth century. Scientists still use his system, but how much has the science changed from the days when Linnaeus, in a frock coat and with a powdered wig, classified the Earth's and animals? Darwin's theory of evolution has allowed scientists to see diversity as the result of a dynamic process rather than a static picture. This makes the discovery, documentation and study of the diversity of life even more exciting now than in the past. As the conservation of biodiversity becomes ever more important politically, the work of taxonomists has impact not only within the scientific community, but also in society as a whole. Taxonomists today still go into natural habitats and discover new ; it is estimated that scientists have described only ten per cent of the Earth's species, so the task is enormous. Fieldwork involves presses, insect nets and hard work getting from place to place, just as it did in the past. Taxonomists house their collected specimens in museums, for their use and for that of future generations of scientists. Morphology is still important in the study of evolutionary patterns, so specimens continue to have a critical role in taxonomy. But today's researchers have at their disposal an armoury of ways of looking at the relationships between species--from electron microscopes for examining the tiniest organisms to DNA sequencers for looking at genes. CLASSIFICATION TO SPECIES LEVEL E.g. the classification of the Geranium endressii is:

Division Anthophyta

Class Dicotyledones

Family

Genus Geranium

Species endressii

Each of the various groupings in this list (Anthophyta, Dicotyledones, Geraniaceae, Geranium, endressii) is called a TAXON - plural TAXA. In normal everyday use the full classification is not given, instead the plant is referred to by a Latin name made up of the + species, so:

Geranium endressii CLASSIFICATION BELOW SPECIES LEVEL Variations within the species which occur in nature are classified into infra-specific taxa - mostly subspecies, varietas (= botanical variety), and forma (form). Variations which are selected in cultivation and deliberately propagated are called cultivated varieties ( for short), or simply varieties. REMEMBER! Variety or cultivar is not the same as varietas or botanical variety. HOW TO WRITE PLANT NAMES (PROPERLY!)

The Latin name of a plant is the name of the Genus (always with an initial capital) followed by the name of the species (always with a small initial letter), usually written in italics. E.g. creeping buttercup:

Ranunculus repens correct ranunculus repens wrong! Ranunculus Repenswrong! Asparagus officinalis subsp. prostratus correct

Asparagus officinalis subsp. officinalis correct ,…..but:

Asparagus officinalis prostratus wrong! Asparagus Officinalis Prostratus wrong! Asparagus Officinalis subsp. Prostratus wrong! Asparagus officinalis officinalis wrong!