Unit II: Classification of Horticultural Plants

Lesson 1 – Botanical and Horticultural Systems

Introduction
Classification means the process of grouping things together on the basis of the features they have in common.
For instance, in our daily life we classify and group our clothes before washing or after drying, and even farm needs
such as fertilizers, chemicals, tools and others. This lesson introduces you to the many ways how plants are classified
so that people around the globe would have common understanding.

Learning Outcomes

▪ Classify crops based on the binomial nomenclature of different crops

▪ Classify crops based on their purpose and interest of cultivation.

Abstraction

Why do we need to classify plants?

It is essential to catalogue or systematize the voluminous information gathered by man since the dawn of
agriculture. The classification can present this material orderly and eliminate repetition of many principles related to
culture, requirements, attributes, storage of the harvested crop. More so, people around the world can have common
understanding for every plant identified. For practical reason, classification can help people to understand the soil,
climatic and cultural requirement, propagation, pest management, growing season and the type of produce or
economic use or purpose.

How do we classify economically important crops?

Each plant is very unique and hence no two species are exactly identical. It is on the differences and
similarities of the different plants that serve as bases for their classification. There could be many ways to classify
plants but Pava et al. (2003) mentioned that plants can classified in three ways such as botanical, agricultural and
descriptive classifications.

Botanical Classification

Carolus Linnaeaus (1707-78) a Swedish botanist was credited for establishing the naming of plants. He
developed a way to name and organizes species that we still use today. The classification is based on the International
Code of Botanical Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (Pava and
Abellanosa, 2003). This classification is also a “systematic botany or plant systematics”. This botanical system is a
binomial system which uses two names to describe plants known as scientific name (the genus and the specific epithet
or the species). The way this classification works is based on the plant morphology (reproductive parts, vegetative
characteristics, and seeds), genetics (chromosome number) and chemical nature or chemotaxonomy (chemicals found
in the plant parts). This modern classification groups crop plants from the largest to the smallest taxon, from kingdom
down to species level, and this can be summarized below.

The taxonomy of binomial system of classification used to describe a plant.

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Anthrophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapinales
Family: Anaeardiaceae
Genus: Mangifera
Species: indica
Scientific name: Mangifera indica

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 The genetic name (name of the genus) plus the specific name (name of the species name) makes up the
scientific name. Thus, in the plant category example the given previously, the carabao mango is known botanically as
Mangifere indica. The specific name is Latinized and is an internationally accepted name, as opposed to the common
name that varies from locality to locality and from country to country. Example manga in the Philippines and
Indonesia and mamuang in Thailand.
The abbreviation or name that usually follows a scientific name is that of the person who first named and
described that species correctly; thus Mangifera indica L., (also Linn.) referring to the scientist Linnaeus.

Horticultural Classification

The horticultural system of classification is also called a functional system being based on some
characteristics that would make the grouping indicate usefulness for a specific purpose.

Vegetables – Vegetable crops are classified according to similarities in the method culture. In general, crops
belonging to one group have the same cultural requirements and problems; hence the method of culture is similar.

▪ Leafy vegetables – crops grown mainly for their leaves. Example: pechay.
▪ Cole crops or crucifers – crops belong to the crucifer family like cabbage.
▪ Root and bulb crops – crops with swollen underground stems or roots like sweet potato.
▪ Legumes and pulses – crops belonging to the legume family as such chickpea and cowpea.
▪ Solanaceous crops – these are a crop that belongs to family solanacea or night shade family like eggplant and
tomato.
▪ Cucurbits – crops belonging to the cucurbit family like cucumber and squash.
▪ Tree vegetables – malunggay and asparagus.
Fruits crops – it is convenient to classify fruit crop into tree fruit, nut fruit, and small fruit, depending mainly on the
growth habit of the plant on which they are borne.

▪ Tree fruits – fruits borne on trees. Majority of the crops belong to this category like mango and lanzones.
▪ Nut fruits – fruits borne on tress but which are enclosed by a stony structure like pili and talisay.
▪ Small fruits – fruits not borne on trees like strawberry and pineapple.
Ornamentals – these are classified according to their special uses. The following classification is based on the
specific plant part aesthetically valued and on the form in which the plants are maintained or marketed.

▪ Cut flowers or florist crops – plants grown for their flowers like rose, daisy and orchid.
▪ Cut foliage or florist greens – a plant whose foliage provides background in floral arrangement examples are
fern and palm.
▪ Flowering pot plants – plants grown in containers for their beautiful flowers, usually used as display
purposes like poinsettia and santan.
Landscape plants – these are plants used for landscaping purposes. Almost all the ornamental fall under this
category.

▪ Foliage plants – plants grown for their attractive foliage. They are used as indoor plants by which term they
are sometimes referred to like reed and parlor palm.

▪ Turf – these are grasses that are used for lawns or greens. They rightfully fall under landscape plants but have
grown in importance to be in a class by themselves.
Plantation crops – these are also classified according to their useful components. They may have different cultural
practices, but their principal products can be substituted for one another.
▪ Oil crops – these are grown for their oil content. Examples are coconut, palm oil, lumbang and castor.
▪ Fiber crops – these are grown for their fibers which are used for textiles, cordage, pulp, paper, twines, sacks,
bags, mats, decors. Examples are abaca, buri, sisal, maguey, cabo negro, and kapok.
▪ Beverage crops – crops used for brewing non-alcoholic drinks. Examples are cacao, tea and coffee.
▪ Spices, condiments, and essences – these are used to provide special flavors, scent, and color to food,
perfume; soaps and body dressing (spray splashes, and rubbing ointments). Examples are black pepper, vanilla
and citronella.

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 ▪ Latexes and resins – these are crops where products of the sap (latex) tapped from the bark or fruit peels are
obtained. Examples are rubber and Chico.
▪ Medicinal and botanical pesticides – these are crops with curative, laxative or pesticidal properties like
neem and lagundi.
▪ Sugar crops – grown for their sugar content as such sugarcane and sugar beet.
▪ Pasture or Forage crops – used for roughage source for animals or feed as such para grass, napier and ipil-
ipil.

Descriptive classification of crops

Crops are further classified on the basis of the following criteria such as growth habit, growth duration or life
span, leaf retention, habitat and climatic adaptation, photoperiod, mode of pollination, photosynthetic reaction and
number of cotyledons.

a. Growth habits

1. Herbs – soft and succulent crops with self-supporting stems. e.g. banana, tomato, sugarcane
2. Vines – these are climbing or twining crops that usually require support. e. g. ampalaya, cucumber,
stringbeans
3. Shrubs – woody small tree-like plants with several trunks emerging from the base. It usually has a height
not more than 4-5 meters. e. g. santan, golden duranta, Mussaenda spp.
4. Trees – woody plants with distinct erect stem trunk that extend more than 5 meters height. e. g. mango,
marang, durian, tamarind

b. Growth duration or life span

1. Annual – a short-duration crop that completes its cycle for weeks and months or less than a year. e. g. rice,
corn, mungbean, pechay
2. Biennial – requires two growing season to complete its life cycle usually within two years. e. g. onions,
cabbage, radish
3. Perennial – plants that live for several years, produce seeds year after year. e. g. coconut and fruit trees

c. Leaf retention
1. Evergreen – plants that retain their leaves throughout the year. Defoliated leaves by programmed
abscission are replaced by new flushes. e.g. mango, papaya, lanzones

2. Deciduous – plants that shed or drop off their leaves at certain part of the year. This usually happens during
summer in the tropical climate. e. g. seniguelas, narra, mahogany

d. Habitat
1. Hydrophytes (aquatic) – plants the can live in water or tolerate extended waterlogged condition. It can be
under partially submerged or floating condition. e. g. kangkong, gabi, lowland rice
2. Mesophytes – also called as land plants where most of the economically important crops are under this
group. e.g. most land plants
3. Xerophytes – plants that can withstand under very limited water condition like in arid condition such
cactus. e.g. dragon fruit
4. Sciophytes – also called as shade loving plants. Crops are easily get light saturated at 500ft.c. such as
begonia, black pepper, ginger, ferns.
5. Heliophytes – also called as sun-loving plants. Wide range of light saturation point usually at 5000 ft.c.
such corn, banana, sugarcane, mungbean.
6. Halophytes – plants that can tolerate salty or saline condition such as coconut, tamarind, cashew
7. Parasitic plant – grows usually on the stems of another plant such as most orchids and Rafflesia

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e. Climatic adaptation

1. Tropical crops – crops that can adapt warm climate with temperature ranging from 24 to 32 0C. e. g. corn,
rice, okra, eggplant
2. Temperate - crops that grow in cooler climate such as winter season with growing temperatures range
between 6 – 13 0C. e. g. Irish potato, peas, cauliflower
3. Sub-tropical or semi-temperate – crops that grows in highlands where temperatures are relatively low
between 14 to 20 0C. e. g. carrots, soybean, radish, snapbeans

f. Photoperiod (light duration)

1. Short-day plants – plants that flower during short days with critical daylenght at 8-12 hrs. e.g. pineapple,
coffee, winged bean
2. Long - day plants – plants the flower during long days with critical daylenght at 13 – 16hrs. e.g. onion,
radish, aster, wheat
3. Day-neutral plants – flowering is not affected by light duration. e.g. banana, coconut, corn, tomato

g. mode of pollination
1. Self-pollinated crops – the mode of transfer of pollen to the stigma is in the same flower of the same plant.
This leads to the production of offspring with less genetic diversity. e. g. rice, okra, eggplant
2. Cross pollinated crops – pollens are transferred to the stigma of another flower of another plant of the
same species but of different variety. e. g. coconut, corn, squash, cucumber
3. Both self- and cross-pollinated crops – these crops may be self-pollinated but with some degree of cross
pollination. e. g. cotton, sorghum

h. Number of cotyledon
1. Monocots – plants that produce seed with a cotyledon or a single seed leaf. e. g. cereal crops
2. Dicots – plants having seed with two cotyledons or two seed leaves. e. g. vegetables and fruits

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Excellent! You’ve just concluded this lesson – well done. You must have enjoyed knowing different crops for the first
time. Keep it up and keep the momentum going. The classification of crops does not end there, so keep the excitement
going - the next lesson of this module further introduces you to other ways of classifying crops. All the best.

References
▪ Bautista, O.K. and R.C. Mabesa. 1977. Vegetable Production. University of the Philippines, College of
Agriculture, Los Banos, Laguna, p. 320
▪ Pava, H.M. and A.L. Abellanosa. 2003. Introduction to Crop Science. 3rd edition.

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 Lesson 2 – Status and Importance of Horticulture
Learning Outcomes
▪ Explain the importance of horticultural crops
▪ Identify the types of horticultural enterprises.
▪ Determine the different uses of horticultural crops.

Abstraction
Horticulture has fuelled many of a tropical country’s economy and has proven to be a major and stable source
of foreign exchange earnings in agriculture. Horticulture also employs a large segment of the population in both the
production and processing sectors.

Types of Horticultural Enterprises

Horticultural enterprises vary in farm size and amount of investment. They can be intensively cultivated, such
that small areas of 200 m2 can provide profitable activities with high – value commodities. They can also be extensive
or require large areas to provide enough raw materials for processing centrals. To simplify our understanding of the
enterprises, they can be categorized in this lesson either family – oriented or market – oriented enterprises.

Family – Oriented Enterprises

▪ Home gardens – any planting around, adjacent to, or behind the house primarily for family use or enjoyment,
is a home garden. A garden may be situated at a distance from the house, but if it is intended for the home, it
is still a home garden. A home garden may range from a few square meters to about 600 m 2. On the average, it
is less than 50 m2 in the Philippines.
▪ Community gardens – these are gardens that are cultivated jointly by several members of the community for
family consumption. The produce is equally divided among the growers. Community gardens are not as
common as home gardens.
▪ School gardens – while the basic objective of the school garden is to teach children to plant, the produce is
brought home by the children for family use. Sometimes, the produce is used in the school cafeteria for the
schools feeding program.
Market – Oriented Enterprises
▪ Nurseries – the most intensive horticultural enterprises are the nurseries which produce the more expensive
plants for landscaping, indoor decors, cut flowers, and planting materials for plantation and fruit crops. A
nursery is a place where young plants are taken care of before they are ultimately transferred to the field or
wherever is their final site of growth; it is also a place where specialty plants like orchids or plants in
containers are grown. A nursery that specializes in growing plants in container is called a container nursery.
Plants in pots are given extra care and the culture is definitely intensive, using more manpower, investments,
and inputs per unit area. A nursery becomes a garden center when materials needed for gardens such as
fertilizers, light equipment, and landscape accessories are sold in addition to nursery crops. A nursery can
accommodate a lot of plants.
▪ Small farms – small farms are those growing crops primarily for sale, where the land area is small enough to
be attended by a family both financially and physically. Thus, small farms vary in size according to the size of
the family. In terms of area, small farms may be less than 1 ha for ornamentals, less than 2 ha for vegetables
and less than 5 ha for fruit and plantation crop. The farm is family enterprise with very little extra hired labor.

▪ Large farms – large farms are those too large for a family unit operation and require a large portion of
operations to be done by hired labor most of the time. The size of this farm may range from 5 ha up to as big
as thousands of hectares. Farms more than 25 ha in size constitute 1 percent of all farms in the Philippines.

o Market gardens – farms producing vegetables continuously and intensively, and are located near
population centers.
o Truck farms – those located so far away that the products have to be hauled by trucks.

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Importance of Horticulture

Economic Importance
Agriculture provides food for humanity and serves as backbone of the nation’s economy. The Philippines is
one of the top producers and exporters of some horticultural crops (e.g. cacao, coffee, coconut, abaca, banana, mango,
papaya, onions and etc.). Further, agriculture provides employment either in crops and livestock production thus
improving family income, standard of living and reducing poverty level.
Aesthetic, Therapeutic and Recreational Importance
A horticultural crop not only contributes to human’s diet and economic nutritional well-being but also it
makes the environment a pleasant place to live, work and play. Aside from the fact that plants giving off and purify
oxygen that we breathe, they’re making our premises (home, school, office, private/government establishments,
highways, parks) enliven surrounding. They further decrease temperature during summer as they provide also shading
and very effective sound barriers.
Nutritional Importance
Nutritionally, fruits and vegetables constitute man’s richest sources of basic nutrients (vitamins, minerals,
water, carbohydrates, fats and protein). These are all needed to supplement the staple diet of every individual to be
able to perform all activities satisfactorily.

Major Crops of the Philippines and their Geographic Distribution

Agricultural crops including cereals, legumes, root crops, vegetables, tropical fruits as well as non-food and
industrial crops. The four climatic types has impact in how crops behave in a specific climatic environments, hence,
some crops may flourish in some region but will underperform in another. This lesson introduces you to the major
crops of the Philippines and its distribution throughout the archipelago.

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Module summary
Thank you for completing this module on the different ways to classify crops. This module essentially covered
the botanical system of classification which uses the internationally accepted naming of plants called scientific name.
This was followed by the grouping of plants according to its purpose and economic use. Under this grouping crops are
broadly group into either agronomic or horticultural depending on the intended use, products and other specifying
factors. Further, crops are classified basically based on their growth and developmental characteristics, morphological
and physiological responses and adaptation.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed this lesson and importantly this module. It is expected that you
have grasped a better understanding on the different classification of crops. To further apply your knowledge on this
module, you are required to submit a photo gallery of the different crops.
Please see below for the details of the learning evidence.

You are now ready to start the Unit III. This module will share you a review about the basic concepts on how plants
grow, develop and reproduce. So, enjoy and keep moving. All the best

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