This list of systems of plant taxonomy presents "taxonomic systems" used in plant classification. A taxonomic system is a coherent whole of taxonomic judgments on

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

and placement of the considered taxa. It is only a "system" if it is applied to a large group of such taxa (for example, all the flowering plants). There are two main criteria for this list. A system must be taxonomic, that is deal with many plants, by their

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Interna ...

s. Secondly it must be a system, i.e. deal with the relationships of plants. Although thinking about relationships of plants had started much earlier (see

history of plant systematics The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lo ...

), such systems really only came into being in the 19th century, as a result of an ever-increasing influx from all over the world of newly discovered plant species. The 18th century saw some early systems, which are perhaps precursors rather than full taxonomic systems. A milestone event was the publication of ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

'' by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

which serves as the starting point of

binomial nomenclature In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name compos ...

for plants. By its size this would qualify to be on this list, but it does not deal with relationships, beyond assigning plants into genera. Note that a system is not necessarily monolithic and often goes through several stages of development, resulting in several versions of the same system. When a system is widely adopted, many authors will adopt their own particular version of the system. The

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) ...

is well known for existing in many versions.

Chronological list of systems

Pre-Linnaean

* *:

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...

classification *::'' Historia Plantarum'' (''Enquiry into Plants''), c. 300 BC *::'' Causes of Plants'', c. 300 BC *:

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

classification *::''

De Materia Medica (Latin name for the Greek work , , both meaning "On Medical Material") is a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE by Pedanius Dioscorides, ...

'', c. 60 AD *:

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...

classification *::'' De Vegetabilibus'', c. 125

*:

Caesalpino Andrea Cesalpino ( Latinized as Andreas Cæsalpinus) (6 June 1524 – 23 February 1603) was a Florentine physician, philosopher and botanist. In his works he classified plants according to their fruits and seeds, rather than alphabetically o ...

classification *::'' De plantis libri XVI'', 1583 *:

John Gerard John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gar ...

classification *:: ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', 1597 *:

Gaspard Bauhin Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin ( la, Casparus Bauhinus; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to t ...

classification *:: ''Pinax theatri botanici'', 1623 *:

John Ray John Ray FRS (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) was a Christian English naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after ...

classification *:: '' Historia Plantarum'', 1686–1704 *: Tournefort classification *:: ''Éléments de botanique'', 1694

From Linnaeus to Darwin (pre-Darwinian)

* Linnaean systems *: Systema Naturae, 1st edition, 1735. *: Systema Naturae, 10th edition, 1758 (vol. 1), 1759 (vol. 2). Starting point of

zoological nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the In ...

. *:

, 1753. Starting point of

botanical nomenclature Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this ...

. *: Genera Plantarum, 1737 (1st ed.), 1753 (5th ed.). *:

Philosophia Botanica ''Philosophia Botanica'' ("Botanical Philosophy", ed. 1, Stockholm & Amsterdam, 1751.) was published by the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) who greatly influenced the development of botanical taxonomy and systematics ...

, 1751. *

Adanson system The Adanson system, published by French botanist Michel Adanson as the ''Familles des plantes'' in two volumes in 1763, was an important step in botanical nomenclature by establishing the ordering of genera into families. Michel Adanson listed 58 ...

*: Familles naturelles des plantes, 1763. * de Jussieu system *: *:(available online a
Gallica
* de Candolle system *: *: *:(available online a
Gallica
* Berchtold and Presl system *:

Berchtold Berchtold (also Berthold, Bertold, Bertolt) is a Germanic name, from the Old High German ''beruht'' "bright" or "brightly" and ''waltan'' "rule over". The name comes into fashion in the German High Middle Ages, from about the 11th century. The cogn ...

and Presl. O Prirozenosti Rostlin 1820 * Dumortier system *: * Lindley system *: *:(available online a
BHL
*: *:(available online a
BHL
*

Bentham & Hooker system A taxonomic system, the Bentham & Hooker system for seed plants, was published in Bentham and Hooker's ''Genera plantarum ad exemplaria imprimis in herbariis kewensibus servata definita'' in three volumes between 1862 and 1883. George Bentham (1 ...

*: *:(available online a
Gallica
* Baillon system *:

Post Darwinian (Phyletic)

Eichler system A system of plant taxonomy, the Eichler system was the first phylogenetic (phyletic) or evolutionary system. It was developed by August W. Eichler (1839–1887), initially in his ''Blüthendiagramme'' (1875–1878) and then in successive edition ...

*: * Van Tieghem system *: *

Engler system One of the prime systems of plant taxonomy, the Engler system was devised by Adolf Engler (1844–1930), and is featured in two major taxonomic texts he authored or co-authored. His influence is reflected in the use of the terms "Engler School" and ...

*: *: * Dalla Torre & Harms system *: *

Bessey system A system of plant taxonomy, the Bessey system was published by Charles Bessey in 1915. Description Bessey based his system on the tradition of de Candolle, Bentham and Hooker and Hallier. He was also influenced by Darwin and Wallace. He taug ...

*: Charles E. Bessey (1907).
A Synopsis of Plant Phyla
. Univ. Nebraska Studies 7: 275–358. *: *

Wettstein system A system of plant taxonomy, the Wettstein system recognised the following main groups, according to Richard Wettstein's ''Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik'' (1901–1924). 3rd edition (1924) Outline Synopsis * Flagellatae p. 65 * ...

*: * Rendle system *:Alfred Barton Rendle. ''The Classification of Flowering Plants'' 1904, 1925 * Lotsy system *: Johannes Paulus Lotsy. ''Vorträge über botanische Stammesgeschichte, gehalten an der Reichsuniversität zu Leiden. Ein Lehrbuch der Pflanzensystematik.'' 1907–1911 * Hallier system *: * Warming system *: *

Hutchinson system A system of plant taxonomy by John Hutchinson, the Hutchinson system, was published as ''The families of flowering plants, arranged according to a new system based on their probable phylogeny'' (two volumes) in three editions; 1st edition 1926– ...

*: * Calestani system *: * Kimura system *: * Benson system *: Lyman David Benson. ''Plant Classification'' 1957 * Emberger system *: *

Melchior system The Melchior system, "a reference in all taxonomic courses", is a classification system detailing the taxonomic system of the Angiospermae according to A. Engler's ''Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien'' (1964), also known as "modified or updated" Eng ...

*: (also known as modified Engler system, in

Angiospermae Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

) *

Takhtajan system A system of plant taxonomy, the Takhtajan system of plant classification was published by Armen Takhtajan, in several versions from the 1950s onwards. It is usually compared to the Cronquist system. It admits paraphyletic groups. Systems The f ...

*: *: *: *: *

*: *: * Thorne system *: *: *: *: *: * Stebbins system *: Stebbins, G.L. (1974). ''Flowering plants: evolution above the species level''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press

ystem followed by Vernon Heywood, Heywood, V.H. (ed., 1978). ''Flowering plants of the world''. Oxford: Oxford University Press

] * Dahlgren system *: *: *: *: *: * Goldberg system *: (available online: Full text (PDF
here
here is also a comparison among 11 Dicotyledons systems since 1960 until 1985*: (available online: Full text (PDF
here
*

Kubitzki system The Kubitzki system is a system of plant taxonomy devised by Klaus Kubitzki, and is the product of an ongoing survey of vascular plants, entitled ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'', and extending to 15 volumes in 2018. The survey, in t ...

(1990- ) *: * Shipunov system (1991–) *:(Available online
Full text PDF
*

Reveal system A 20th-century system of plant taxonomy, the Reveal system (see also the Thorne & Reveal system) of plant classification was drawn up by the American botanist James Reveal (1941-2015). The system was published online in 1997 in ten parts as lectur ...

(1997) *
Reveal System of Classification 1997
*

Judd system A 20th-century list of systems of plant taxonomy, system of plant taxonomy, the Judd system (1999-2016) of plant classification was drawn up by the American botanist Walter S. Judd (1951-) and collaborators, partially based on Angiosperm Phylogeny G ...

(1999–2016) *: (Modified APG) *: *: * APG system *: APG I (1998) *:: *:: *: APG II (2003) *:: *::(Available online
Abstract

Full text (HTML)

Full text (PDF)
*:

APG III APG is an abbreviation with several different meanings: * Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army installation in Aberdeen, Maryland, also ** Phillips Army Airfield, the airfield of the above, from its IATA airport code * Aboriginal Provisiona ...

(2009) *:: *::(Available online

*:: Chase & Reveal System (2009) *::: *:::(Available online at doi link.) *:

APG IV The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was publish ...

(2016) *::

Other systems

* Bartling system

* Miloš Deyl, Deyl system * Endlicher system

* Felix Eugen Fritsch, Fritsch system (algae

* Alfred Gundersen, Gundersen system * Hallier system *

Hoek, Mann and Jahns system The Hoek, Mann and Jahns system is a system of taxonomy of algae. It was first published in ''Algae: An Introduction to Phycology'' by Cambridge University Press in 1995. Division Cyanophyta (= Cyanobacteria) * Class Cyanophyceae :* Order Ch ...

(algae) * Mez system * Novák system

* Adolf Pascher, Pascher system (algae

* Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group system * Pulle system *

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

system

* Rouleau system *

Smith system A system of taxonomy of the cryptogams, the Smith system was published in : Smith, G.M. (1938)''Cryptogamic Botany'', vol. 1 Algae and fungi. McGraw-Hill, New York. :Smith, G.M. (1955)''Cryptogamic Botany'', vol. 2 Bryophytes and pteridophytes. 2n ...

(cryptogams – algae, fungi, bryophytes and pteridophytes) * Skottsberg system * Soó system * Strasburguer system

* Oswald Tippo, Tippo system

References

External links

List of systems on a Russian server, by Alexey Shipunov
* Minelli, Alessandro (1993). ''Biological Systematics. The State of the Art''. Chapman & Hall, London. 387 pp
Appendices 2–23
with major systematic works.
Review of systems 1703–1845, in Lindley, John (1846): The Vegetable Kingdom

Rao M. M., Reddy, S.M. (2007), Plant Taxonomy: Systems of Classification, in Reddy S. M. et al. (eds.) University Botany – 3, New Age International, pp. 7–32

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Systems Of Plant Taxonomy