Plant Classification and Naming

Botany November 20, 2008

Classifying Plants• Early classification was based

upon segregating those plants that were harmful from those that were not.

• They were further divided by their specific uses

• Plants that were eaten, used for medicine or were poisonous.

Classifying PlantsSome plants are classified by their life

cycles

• Annual (winter and summer)– Germination, Growth, Flowering, Death

• Perennial – Germination, Growth, Flowering, Dormancy

and the cycle starts over

• Biennial– Season 1-Germination, Growth, Dormancy,

Growth (season 2) Flowering, Death

Plant Classification• Some are classified by stem type.

• Herbaceous Plants-Stems that are soft and not woody, such as herbs, certain vines and turf grasses that die back to the ground each year.

• Woody Plants-Includes any shrubs, trees or certain vines which produce wood and have buds surviving above ground over the winter

• Deciduous Plants-leafless during a portion of the year (usually winter).

• Evergreen Plants-keep their leaves year round. They are either narrow leaf or broadleaf.

Plant Classification

The ability of a plant to withstand colder temperatures is known as hardiness.

A tender plant is more sensitive to temperature extremes

A hardy plant is less sensitive to temperature extremes

Plant Classification

Dicots are plants characterized by two cotyledons (seed leaves) in their seedling stage. They have flower parts in fours or fives or multiples of these numbers

• Monocots are plants characterized by one cotyledon in their seedling stage. They have flower parts in threes or multiples of 3.

Scientific Classification and Names

• No two plants have the same scientific name

• The scientific name helps the scientists and horticulturists identify plants and recognize