Theophrastus (371-287BC)• Greek philosopher, successor to Aristotle

• Considered the “father of botany”

• Wrote several books on plants, only a few survived, including De Historia plantarum and On the causes of Plants, a book which influenced medieval society greatly

• First to use systemization in the botanical world– plants were classified by modes of generation, geographic locations, sizes and practical uses

Dioscorides (40-90AD)• Greek physician, pharmacologist, and botanist• Wrote De Materia Medica which describes the “medicinal uses” of over 600 plants • Remained in circulation throughout the middle ages• The ambiguous naming of plants led to misunderstandings and errors

Albertus Magnus(1193-1280)•The dark and middle ages were an era of scientific stagnation with little intellectual advancement, Albertus “the Great”rediscovered botany

• Established a classification system that could distinguish between monocots and dicots

• Wrote seven books discussing everything from whether plants have souls to agriculture

John Gerard (1542-1612)In the sixteenth century, the development of the printing press led to renewed vigor in scientific acheivement.

• In 1597 Gerard wrote Herball; GenerallHistorie of Plantes, which became the most widely circulated botany book for two centuries, not because he was a phenomenal botanist, but because he made the material accessible.

• Herball was based previous works by Rembert Dodoens’ Herbal (1554), and considered by many to be a glorified translation.

Leonhart Fuchs and Otto Brunfels(1501-1566) (1488-?)

• “Fathers of germanbotany”

• Break from previous tradition of using other peoples’ images and go about finding and naming plants on their own

• Fuchs wrote New Herbal(1543) which describes about 400 wild species and 100 domestic plants in germany.

Luca Ghini (1490-1556)

• Italian botanist credited with creating the herbarium which enabled people to study plants outside of natural growing seasons

• Also credited with creating the first botanical garden in europe

John Ray (1627-1705)•His Historia Plantarium, was an important step towards modern taxonomy– he classified plants according to similarities and differences that emerged from observation, not according to a pre-conceived, either/or type system.

• First to create a scientific definition of species:

"... no surer criterion for determining species has occurred to me than the distinguishing features that perpetuate themselves in propagation from seed. Thus, no matter what variations occur in the individuals or the species, if they spring from the seed of one and the same plant, they are accidental variations and not such as to distinguish a species... Animals likewise that differ specifically preserve their distinct species permanently; one species never springs from the seed of another nor vice versa."

Caspar Bauhin(1560-1624)

• Used some binomial names

• Understood the concept of grouping species into genera

• His Pinax theatri botanici describes over 6,000 species and classifies them

Some people you may have actually heard of...

Carl Linnaeus(1707-1778)• Swedish botanist who wrote Species Plantarum (1753) which surveyed all the world’s plants and animals that were then known: about 7,700 plants and 4,400 animals

• His Species Plantarum was accepted by international agreement as the official starting point for botanical and zoological nomenclature = scientific names published before this date have no validity.

• He established and standardized the consistent binomial nomenclature we use today.

Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu (1748-1836)

• Divided plants into three main groups: acotyledons, monocots and dicots

• He is considered the fore-runner of modern day classification system

• Wrote General Plantarum (1789)

• Improved on Linnaeus’ system of classifying plants on number of stamen and pistils by using multiple characters to classify plants into classes and orders.

Charles Bessey (1845-1915)• American botanist that popularized botany in the USA

• His arrangement of flowering taxawas based on the divergence of primitive forms

• His naming system is considered by many as the basis of a modern, comprehensive taxonomy of the plant kingdom.

Key Words:

• Phylogeny: the relationship among organisms as reflected by their evolutionary history

• Taxonomy: the study of the theory, practice, and rules of classification of living and extinct organisms

• Systematics: the study of the diversity of organisms and their natural habitat

89.4% Angiosperms

3.61% Mosses

4.04% Ferns

2.28% Hornworts and Liverworts

ExtantLand Plant Diversity

Crepet and Niklas, 2009

0.38% Lycopods

0.29% Gymnosperms

Androecium Morphology

Petaloid staminode(s)

Reduction in fertile stamen number

Labellum

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Your turn.

Exercise 1. Inferring Angiosperm Phylogeny Using Morphology

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Anatomy of a Plant

A Guide to Floral Morphology

Guide to Leaf Morphology

Exercise 2.

Flower dissection and identification of floral organs

Diagram of various leaf shapes