Botany - B.Ye. Yakubenko 2017

Part Two. The System of the Organic World

Systematics is a branch of botany that studies plant Classification taking into account their evolution. Its main tasks are to describe all existing and fossil plant species and to build a system that reflects the course of historical development (evolution) of the plant kingdom.

The Significance of systematics is immense, because without knowledge of the flora (the totality of plant species), it is impossible to carry out practical activities in all sectors of agricultural production and plant product Processing in particular. Humans must know the names of the plants they work with and those that surround them in everyday life.

Systematics, as a science, operates with systematic units, or taxa. The principal taxa include (in hierarchical order): kingdom, division, Class, order, family, genus, and species. Intermediate units are also frequently used: superkingdom, subclass, subfamily, etc. Since the time of Carl Linnaeus (mid-18th century), who is considered the founder of plant systematics, binary nomenclature has been used to designate plant species, according to which each species is named with two words — the first word, a noun, indicates belonging to a specific genus, and the first word together with the second word, an adjective, designates the species. For example, Scots pine, garden onion, durum wheat, etc. This nomenclature is globally recognized, utilizing Latin names (Pinus sylvestris, Allium cepa, Triticum durum).

The basic taxonomic unit is the species. A species is defined as a group of individuals sharing common morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits, which freely interbreed to produce fertile offspring, occupy a specific geographic range (area), and interact with the environment.