Taxonomy of angiosperms

Unit 1

Systematics
The term systematic is derived from
the Latinized Greek word systema.
The word was used by Carolus
Linnaeus in naming his book
Systema Naturae. There are many
ways in which the term systematics
has been described in the past four
decades but the much-quoted
definition of systematics has been
offered by Simpson in 1961 in his
book entitled Principles of animal
taxonomy that states, “It is the
scientific study of the kinds and
diversity of organisms and any and
all relationships among them.” Over
the years various workers in this field
have tried to resolve this and gave
simpler definitions of systematics.
Systematics at present is considered
a broad field encompassing 3 major
areas viz Taxonomy, Phylogenetics
and Biosystematics.

Classification (which is a part of

taxonomy) was the grouping of
organisms into the hierarchy of a
classification; taxonomy was the
theoretical study of classification.

To make a better distinction between

taxonomy and systematics one can
say that taxonomy was represented
by keys, systematics by interpretive
relationships. Recently, a different
distinction has been drawn between
systematization and classification,
the former being an ordering
according to element/system or
part/whole relationships, the latter of
categories based on common
properties.
Taxonomy
Biosystematics

Phylogenetics
Scope of Systematics
 primarily it involves naming and

describing species, and classifying

them in a consistent manner. It
also deals with the evolutionary
relationships among species and
higher-level taxa.
 Determination of the most recent
common ancestor
 Reconstructing phylogeny

components of systematics:
These principles or components are
integral in constructing a system of
classification which gives the best
possible interrelation of the taxa.
The components like identification,
description and nomenclature
enables a better management of
information to be utilized by
different people working on different
aspects of various taxa.

Identification
It includes determination of an
unknown specimen and then
assigning it a correct name and rank
in an established system of
classification. For determination of
name of unknown specimen there are
many ways. Some of them are as
follows
1. It can be done by either sending
the specimen to a subject expert
in the relevant field or by visiting
herbarium and comparing the
specimen with already identified
 specimen that are present in the
herbarium.
2. By use of already published
literature of an area having
description of similar kind of
plants such as Floras, Revisions,
Monographs and Manuals. First
the plant is identified with the
help of keys and later the
detailed description of the plant
is compared with the unknown
specimen.
3. Use of virtual herbarium, where
one can go through various
images which have been already
uploaded by experts or amateurs
and the members of a particular
group helps in the identification
of the unknown plants.
Description
The description involves listing its
features by recording its character
state. The diagnostic features are
recorded which separates the taxa
from others. These diagnostic
features determine the
circumscription. Every possible
detail from the plant is recorded
about the habit, habitat, stem,
leaves, flowers, fruits etc. use of semi
technical terms are done to record
the description.
Nomenclature
The determination of correct name of
a taxon is known as nomenclature.
For naming of different groups of
living organisms there are different
rules which are followed. For
nomenclature of plants, the rules for
International Code of Nomenclature
(ICN) are followed. The advantage of
having this code is that only a single
correct name is available for a
particular taxon. Similarly the
nomenclature of cultivated plants is
governed by International Code of
Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
(ICNCP), names of bacteria by
International Code for the
Nomenclature of Bacteria also called
the Bacteriological Code (BC). For
viruses a separate code for viruses
called the International Code of
Virus Classification and
Nomenclature (ICVCN). Recently in
year 2007 a rankless PhyloCode has
also been developed based on the
concepts of phylogenetic systematics.
On the basis of recognition of
monophyletic group only species are
recognized.

Phylogeny
It deals with the evolutionary decent
of a taxonomic group and study of
ancestral relationship and lineages.
These relationships are often
depicted through a diagram which is
known as Phylogram. A phylogram is
a branching diagram based on the
degree of apomorphy in the
descendants; the longest branch
represents the most derived group.
Geological timescale necessarily may
not be there. Monophyletic groups,
including all the descendents of a
common ancestor, are recognized
and form entities in a classification
system. Paraphyletic groups, where
in some decedents of a common
ancestor are left out, are reunited.
Phenetic information may often help
in determining a phylogenetic
relationship.

Classification
It is an arrangement where
organisms are grouped on the basis
of their similarities. These groups
are again assembled into more
inclusive groups, until all the
organisms have been assembled into
a single most inclusive group. In
this process the groups are assigned
to a fixed hierarchy of categories
such as species, genus, family, order,
class and division, the final
arrangement thus conclude a
classification. There are different
types of classification that have been
proposed based upon different
characters. Some important one are:
1. Artificial classification
This system of classification is also
commonly known as sexual system
of plant classification here
artificial characters were taken
for the classification of plants
into various groups. This system
was proposed by Linnaeus, who
used the number of stamen for
grouping the plants.

2. Natural classification
This system uses overall similarity
in grouping taxa; this concept
was started by M. Adanson and
was later comprehensively used by
Bentham and Hooker. In this
system mainly morphological
features were used to delimit
similarities between the plants.
3. Phentic classification
A system of classification that
does not try to reflect evolutionary
relationships; instead it is based
on physical similarities among
organisms (phenotype); organisms
are placed in the same category
because they look alike. Sneath
and Sokal strongly advocated this
system of classification but did
not find much favor by other.

4. Phylogenetic classification
Phylogenetic classifications is
based upon the evolutionary
descent of a group of organism it
may be monophyletic,
polyphyletic, or paraphyletic.
Monophyletic refers to one
 ancestry, and exists when all the
included organisms in a group
share a common ancestor and
none of the descendants of that
ancestor are excluded. When the
included organisms are derived
from two or more distinct
ancestors, the classification is
polyphyletic. When a classification
does not include all the
descendants of the most recent
common ancestor, it is termed
paraphyletic. Phylogenetic
classifications should be based on
monophyletic groups, whenever
possible.

Aims and objectives of systematics

1. Tracing phylogeny is one of the
main goals of systematics or
systematists (the one who study
sytematics), the study of
biological diversity in an
evolutionary context. Trace
phylogeny or the
 evolutionary history of life,
biologists use evidence from
paleontology, molecular data,
comparative anatomy, and
other approaches.
2. To have a convenient method of
identification and
communication. To prepare
detailed and diagnostic
descriptions for identification
of plants.
3. To prepare an inventory of the
plant taxa by means of the flora
of the entire world.
4. The development of phylogeny,
the evolutionary history of a
species or group of related
species.
5. To provide a system of
 classification based on the
natural affinities, which gives
the best possible relationship
amongst the plants present on
the planet.
6. To detect evolution at work,
discovering its process and
interpreting its result.
7. To integrate all available
information particularly in
regard to the relationship
between many biological fields.
8. To provide integrated database
for all plants across the planet.

Components of
systematics/Terminologies used
Systematics is founded in the
principles of evolution. Its major
premise being that there is one
phylogeny of life. The goal of
systematics is to discover that
phylogeny and during that process
another important field one comes
across is taxonomy.

Evolution
It is a cumulative change that has
been taking place since the day the
universe came in existence.
According to Charles Darwin
evolution of life means “decent with
modification.” Decent primarily deals
with the transfer of genetic material
from the parents to the offspring
over generations. It may occur by
simple clonal reproduction or by
complex sexual reproduction. Decent
through times results in formation of
lineage. The general units of
evolution are population and species
and the ultimate result is speciation.

Phases of Taxonomy

Pioneer phase/Exploratory
As the name suggests it is the
beginning of taxonomy by
exploration, collection, and
preparation of database in the form
of herbarium. The specimens were
identified and recorded.

Systematic phase/Consolidation
The plant material is studied in the
field as well as from the herbarium
to determine the variation, the
results is the generation of
taxonomic literature like flora and
manual. The process of description
may also result in the discovery of
new individual
or groups of plants to the mankind.
During this phase more emphasis is
laid on studying the variation in the
plants collected during the pioneer
phase.

Biosystematic phase/Experimental
On the basis of the information
generated by the first two phases and
by addition of the information on
geographical variation, cytogenetic
studies, physiological features and
other population studies a more
thorough knowledge on the taxon is
generated.

Encyclopaedic or holotaxonomic
phase
This phase is the synchronization of
the above three phases. The
information is assembled, analyzed
and a meaningful synthesis of
analysis is provided for
understanding phylogeny.

The first two phases are mainly

descriptive and are based on the
gross morphological characters
corresponds to alpha taxonomy and
the last two phases are under omega
taxonomy (Turrill, 1938)