This list of systems of plant taxonomy presents “taxonomic systems” used in plant classification.

A taxonomic system is a coherent whole of taxonomic judgements on circumscription 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). Taxonomy, sometimes alpha taxonomy, is the science of finding, describing and naming organisms, thus giving rise to taxa. ...

There are two main criteria for this list. A system must be taxonomic, that is deal with a large number of plants, by their botanical names. 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), such systems really only came into being in the nineteenth century, as a result of an ever increasing influx from all over the world of newly discovered plant species. The eighteenth century saw some early systems, which are perhaps precursors rather than full taxonomic systems. Taxonomy, sometimes alpha taxonomy, is the science of finding, describing and naming organisms, thus giving rise to taxa. ... A botanical name is a formal name conforming to the ICBN. As with its zoological and bacterial equivalents it may also be called a scientific name. Botanical names may be in one part (genus and above), two parts (species) or three parts (below the rank of species). ... A history of plant systematics should either start with folk taxonomy or with Theophrastus’s Historia Plantarum, the first scientific treatise published on plants. ...

A milestone event was the publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus which serves as the starting point of binomial nomenclature 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. Writing the Species Plantarum was one of Carolus Linnaeus two great contributions to the Scientific community. ... Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as (help· info), and in English usually under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), the name with which his publications were signed, was a Swedish botanist and physician who laid the foundations for the modern scheme... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ...

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 is well-known for existing in many versions. The Cronquist system is a scheme for the classification of flowering plants (or angiosperms). ...

• de Jussieu system

  A.L. de Jussieu (1789). Genera Plantarum, secundum ordines naturales disposita juxta methodum in Horto Regio Parisiensi exaratam.

  (available online at Gallica)

• de Candolle system

  A.P. de Candolle (2nd edition, 1819). Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, ou exposition des principes de la classification naturelle et de l’art de décrire et d’etudier les végétaux.

  A.P. de Candolle et al. (1824–1873). Prodromus systemati naturalis regni vegetabilis sive enumeratio contracta ordinum, generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarum, juxta methodi naturalis normas digesta.

  (available online at Gallica)

• Bentham & Hooker system

  G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker (three volumes, 1862–1883). Genera plantarum ad exemplaria imprimis in herbariis kewensibus servata definita.

  (available online at Gallica)

• Baillon system

  H. Baillon (thirteen volumes, 1867–1894). Histoire des plantes.

• Eichler system

  Eichler (1883; 3rd edition). Syllabus der Vorlesungen über Phanerogamenkunde.

• Engler system (also see Phylogenetic System)

  A. Engler & K. Prantl (1887–1915; 2nd edition, 1924–). Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien.

  H. Melchior (1964). in Adolf Engler Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien, 12th edition, II. Band. (Update to the flowering plants). (also known as Melchior system or modified Engler system)

• Dalla Torre & Harms system

  K.W. von Dalla Torre & H. Harms (1900–1907). Genera Siphonogamarum, ad systema Englerianum conscripta.

• Bessey system

  Charles E. Bessey (1915). "The phylogenetic taxonomy of flowering plants". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 2: 109-164.

• Wettstein system

  R. Wettstein (in two volumes, 1901-1908; 2nd edition, 1911; 3rd edition, 1923-24; 4rd edition, 1933-35). Handbuch der systematischen Botanik.

• Hutchinson system

  J. Hutchinson (two volumes, 1926–1934; 2nd edition 1959; 3rd edition, 1973). The families of flowering plants, arranged according to a new system based on their probable phylogeny.

• Takhtajan system

  A. Takhtajan (in Russian, 1966). A system and phylogeny of the flowering plants.

  A. Takhtajan (1969, transl. from Russian by C. Jeffrey). Flowering plants: origin and dispersal.

  A. Takhtajan (1980). "Outline of the classification of flowering plants (Magnoliophya)". Botanical Review 46: 225-359.

• Cronquist system

  A. Cronquist (1968; 2nd edition 1988). The evolution and classification of flowering plants.

  A. Cronquist (1981). An integrated system of classification of flowering plants.

• Goldberg system

  Aaron Goldberg (1986). "Classification, Evolution and Phylogeny of the Families of Dicotyledons". Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 58: 1–314.

  (available online: Full text (PDF) here: big file, long download!) [there is also a comparison among 11 Dicotyledons systems since 1960 until 1985]

• Dahlgren system

  R.M.T. Dahlgren (1975). "A system of classification of angiosperms to be used to demonstrate the distribution of characters". Bot. Notiser 128: 119–147.

  R.M.T. Dahlgren (1980). "A revised system of classification of angiosperms". Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 80: 91-124.

  R.M.T. Dahlgren (1983). "General Aspects of Angiosperm Evolution and Macrosystematics". Nordic Journal of Botany 3: 119-149.

  R.M.T. Dahlgren & al. (1985). The families of the monocotyledons: structure, evolution, and taxonomy.

• Thorne system

  R.F. Thorne (1968). "Synopsis of a putative phylogenetic classification of flowering plants". Aliso 6(4): 57–66.

  R.F. Thorne (1992). "Classification and geography of flowering plants". Botanical Review 58: 225–348.

  R.F. Thorne (1992). "An updated phylogenetic classification of the flowering plants". Aliso 13: 365–389.

  R.F. Thorne (2000). "The classification and geography of the flowering plants: dicotyledons of the class Angiospermae". Botanical Review 66: 441–647.

• Kubitzki system (1990- )

  K. Kubitzki & al. (1990 ongoing). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants.

• APG system (1998)

  APG (1998). "An ordinal classification for the families of flowering plants". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 85: 531–553.

  W.S. Judd & al. (1999; 2nd edition, 2002). Plant systematics: a phylogenetic approach.

• APG II system (2003)

  APG (2003). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141: 399-436.

  (Available online: Abstract | Full text (HTML) | Full text (PDF))

Portrait of Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (April 12, 1748 - September 17, 1836) was a French botanist. ... Augustin Pyrame de Candolle Augustin Pyrame de Candolle (February 4, 1778 - September 9, 1841) was a Swiss botanist. ... Augustin Pyrame de Candolle Augustin Pyrame de Candolle (February 4, 1778 - September 9, 1841) was a Swiss botanist. ... An early taxonomic system, the Bentham & Hooker system for seed plants was published in : G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker (three volumes, 1862–1883). ... George Bentham George Bentham (September 22, 1800 – September 10, 1884) was an English botanist, perhaps the greatest systematic botanist of the 19th century. ... Joseph Dalton Hooker Dr. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, GCSI , OM , FRS , MD (June 30, 1817 – December 10, 1911) was an English botanist and traveller. ... Henri Ernest Baillon was a French botanist and physician. ... Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler better known as Adolf Engler (March 25, 1844 – October 10, 1930) was a German botanist, very important for his works on Plant Taxonomy and Phytogeography, like Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien (The natural Plant Families), edited with Karl A. E. von Prantl and for his foremost system... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Armen Takhtajan (born 1910) is a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figures in 20th Century plant evolution and systematics and biogeography. ... Armen Takhtajan (born 1910) is a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figures in 20th Century plant evolution and systematics and biogeography. ... Armen Takhtajan (born 1910) is a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figures in 20th Century plant evolution and systematics and biogeography. ... The Cronquist system is a scheme for the classification of flowering plants (or angiosperms). ... Arthur C. Cronquist (1919–1992) was a North American botanist who wrote An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants (1981) and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants (1988). ... Arthur C. Cronquist (1919–1992) was a North American botanist who wrote An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants (1981) and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants (1988). ... One of the modern systems of plant taxonomy, the Dahlgren system was published by monocot specialist Rolf Dahlgren. ... A modern system of plant taxonomy, the APG II system of plant classification was published in 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG, in Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003). ...

Other systems

• Lindley system
• Endlicher system
• Skottsberg system
• Hallier system
• Benson system
• Rendle system
• Mez system
• Tippo system
• Pulle system
• Soó system
• Novák system
• Deyl system
• Stebbins system
• Rouleau system

John Lindley (February 8, 1799 - November 1, 1865) was an English botanist. ... Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher (24 June 1804 - 28 March 1849; botanical abbreviation Endl. ... Carl Johan Fredrik Skottsberg (1 December 1880 – 14 June 1963) was a Swedish botanist and explorer of Antarctica. ...

See also :

• Lindley, John (1846):The Vegetable Kingdom [In English, with list of systems since 1703 (John Ray) until 1845] (available online at Gallica)
• List of systems on a russian server, by Alexey Shipunov