Brief Note on the Artificial System of Classification of Plants

There are more than four lakhs varieties of plants found allover the earth’s crust. In order to study them systematic way a classification is indispensable. French botanist A.P de Candole first made attempt to made principles and practice to classify plants.

Arrangement of plants into groups and subgroups division’s sub-divisions and other lower taxons is commonly called as classification. Certain practices rules or principles of classification have gradually developed during the past centuries in the development of taxonomy.

Aim of the classification is to bring all plants in to a common trend of arrangement so that they can be easily identified on distinguishes from one another and studied separately. It also provides the idea of the sequence of evolution among the plants.

There are two distance systems of classification has been adopted, one is artificial system and other is the natural system.

Artificial System of Classification of Plants:

i. The system of classification in which one or very few character are considered as the key feature of classification is called as artificial system.

ii. This system of classification never throws light on the affinities or relationship of the plants with one another.

iii. This classification is made only on the basis of presence on absence of the particular character that taken into account leaving the others.

iv. In artificial system plants are categorized into a particular taxonomical rank but the ranks are not stepwise.

v. In this classification very few species are included which were discovered until that period.

There are many taxonomist classify their own way of understanding in to different group taking one or few characters. These plants are grouped in to artificial groups or classes or orders. Out of these artificial system, the system which primarily proposed by Linnaeus was taken to consideration.

Linnaeus’s Artificial System:

Carolus Linnaeus a Swedish botanist who published an artificial system based e3xclusively on floral characters. He realized the imperfection of his system and regarded it as a temporary makeshift until a more natural syatem could be devised upon. He set this classification and published it in this book “species plantarum “(1753) describing all species known at that time and his “genera plantarum” (1754) similarly describing the genera, stand today as the greatest of botanical classics.

Basis of Linnaeus’s system:

Linnaeus classifies all the flowering plants under twenty four classes on the basis of floral character, which includes:

i. Number of stamens present in a flower.

ii. Insertation of floral parts in to the thallamus.

iii. Arrangement adhesion and distribution of stamens.

iv. Nature of anther and filaments and their arrangemen

Demerits or short Commings of Linnaeous’s system;

i. Linnaeous arranged the general of plants into 24 admittedly artificial classes.

ii. It is basedon only stamen characters or sexual characters and other important morphological characters are not taken in to account.

iii. Affinity or phylogeny among plants are totally ignored.

iv. Closely related plants placed far apart and quite different species placed together.

v. Cyptogams which had little interest were all considered to twenty fourth class.

vi. The genera and species particularly of the non vascular form bear little resemblances to those admitted today.

vii. The 23 classes of seed plants were defined largely by the number of stamens and carpels, thus permitting the relatively easy assignment of most genera to a particular class, but often putting allied genera in different classes.