Classification “You can’t tell the players without a program!” J.G. Mexal Agro/Hort 100G.

Classification“You can’t tell the players without a

program!”

J.G. Mexal

Agro/Hort 100G

HORT Humor

Working Definitions/Plant Sciences

• Botany : study of all plants

• Agronomy : study of field crops

• Horticulture : “garden culture”

• Other fields: Forestry / Range Science / Ecology / Physiology / Genetics / Pathology

Botany: Plants Studied

• All Plants

• Examples

Algae

Mosses

Ferns

Green plants

Agronomy: Plants Studied

• “Field Crops”

• Examples:

Grains (corn, wheat, soybeans)

Forages (alfalfa, grasses)

Fibers (cotton, flax, linen)

• ‘Extensive’ agriculture– Greater emphasis on quantity

Horticulture: Plants Studied

• “Garden Culture”

• Examples:

Vegetables (chile, onions, lettuce, tomato)

Fruits (apples, strawberries, bananas)

Misc. (turf, Xmas trees, ornamentals)

• Greater emphasis on quality (size, color, shape)

Classification Hierarchy

• King– Phillip

• Cried– Oh!

» For

~ Goodness

¤ Sakes

• Kingdom– Phylum

• Class– Order

» Family

~ Genus

¤ Species

Classification

• Why do we do this?

• What do these plants have in common?– Alfalfa Lucerne– Bald cypress Arizona cypress– Western red cedar Eastern red cedar– Salt cedar Cedar of Lebanon

Classification

• Why do we do this?

• What do these plants have in common?– Alfalfa/ Lucerne both are Medicago sativa

– Bald cypress Arizona cypress– Taxodium distichum Cupressus arizonica

– Western red cedar Eastern red cedar– Thuja plicata Juniperus virginiana

– Salt cedar Cedar of Lebanon– Tamarix chinensis Cedrus lebani

Classification

• Kingdom = Plantae• Phylum = Gymnosperms (conifers)

Angiosperms (flowering plants)– Class = Monocots (grasses)

Dicots • Order = Solanales (groups of families)

– Family = Solanaceae (tomato family)» Genus / Species = Capsicum annuum (chile)» Cultivar = ‘NuMex Joe E. Parker’

Plant Classification

• Genus-- always italicized or underlined, e.g. Medicago or Medicago

• Species-- always italicized or underlined, e.g. sativa or sativa

• Variety or Cultivar-- placed in ‘’, e.g. ‘Mesilla’.

• Common name-- unreliable. Changes with locale, e.g. alfalfa and lucerne are different names for Medicago sativa. C. Linnaeus

1707-1778

Plant Classification/ Major Crops

Latin Name Common Name

Major Descriptor

Gymnospermae Conifers Naked Seed

Monocotyledonae Monocots 1 cotyledon

Dicotyledonae Dicots 2 cotylodons

Characteristics--Monocots & Dicots

Characteristic Monocot Dicot

Seed leaves 1 2 (rare 1,3,4)

Leaf venation Parallel Net pattern

Cambium Absent Present

Vascular bundles Scattered Arranged in ring

Flower parts 3’s 5’s, less often 4’s

Mature root system Fibrous Tap or fibrous

Growth habit Rarely woody ~1/2 woody

Whole Plant Structure– Monocot vs Dicot

Classification--Major Plant Families

Family Number Of Species

Important crops

Poaceae 8,000 Corn, rice, turf grasses

Fabaceae 10,000 Beans, peas, alfalfa, soybeans

Rosaceae Rose, apple, strawberry, plum

Brassicaceae 3,000 Mustard, cole crops

Solanaceae Chile, tomato, potato

Asteraceae 20,000 Sunflower, lettuce, mums

Curcubitaceae Melons, gourds, squash

Amaryllidaceae Onions, garlic

Liliaceae 4,000 Lily

Malvaceae Cotton, hybiscus, okra

Classification

• Things to Know:– Botany, horticulture, agronomy– Classification hierarchy– Monocots vs Dicots– Why are common names unreliable?– Major economic plant families