FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN THE CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE OF CULTIVATED AND WILD PLANTSIn the interest of nomenclatural stability it may at first glance seem wise to standardize the nomenclature of biological objects once and for all. This would not allow, however, for changes to accommodate new theories of evolution and classification. For example, Linnaeus’s very useful development of binomial nomenclature predated modern ideas of evolution espoused by Darwin (1859). If traditional nomenclature was “frozen” since the time of Linnaeus we would be burdened with an archaic system with little biological relevance. Hence, classification rules change along with new data and needs (every six years for theICBN, irregularly for the ICNCP).A....
Nominalistic Species Concepts
Nominalistic Species ConceptsSome question the very existence of species, and believe that individuals or interbreeding populations are the only population system with any objective reality. This concept arose out of the philosophy of nominalism, arguing that only individuals are real and that classes of any kind (as species, genera, or families) are artificial constructs. For example, Burma (1954) stated: species are highly abstract fictions. Levin (2000) likewise argued that only the local population is the unit of evolution, and species are artificial. Some evidence supported nominalistic concepts. Ehrlich and Raven (1969) documented many cases of reduced gene flow in both plants and animals that would preclude any cohesive force to maintain...
HISTORY OF PLANT'S CLASSIFICATION
HISTORY OF PLANT'S CLASSIFICATIONThe inherent curiosity of the human mind, the need for orderliness in knowledge, and the desire to communicate effectively has stirred interest in plant study and classification for centuries. According to Lawrence (1951), the earliest system of classification, proposed by the Greeks and herbalists, was based on the forms of plants: trees, shrubs, herbs, vines, and so on. This system prevailed from about 300 B.C. to the middle of the eighteenth century and became somewhat more elaborate as new information and concepts were incorporated. From about 1500 to 1700, gross flower characters such as ovary position (superior vs. inferior) and petal structure (petalous vs. apetalous, polypetalous vs. sympetalous, and...
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