Nov 4 Botany Quiz

Taxonomy

a way of assessing the relationship between different organisms encompassing naming, identification, evolution, and classification of organisms

Earliest classification of plants:

edible, poisonous, medicinal, hallucinogenic, good for making things

Theophrastus (370 BC - 290 BC)

The father of botany, who described habits of growth. Classified trees, shrubs, sub-shrubs herbs, and vines. At this time, evolution wasn’t an idea and there was a belief that cultivated plants produce fruit as gifts from the Gods. Mentor was Aristotle.

Shrub

many branches close to the ground, not more than 5 feet

Herbaceous plants (herbs)

Any seed-bearing vascular plant without woody tissues.

Woody plants

Perennials that produces wood as its structural tissues, reinforced by the secondary xylem.

Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD)

Aided in the discovery of medical plants

Dioscorides (1st Century AD)

Materia Medica became the standard medical reference for 1500 years. Arab translators preserved lost botany books during the Middle Ages.

Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Father of taxonomy, and changed the polynomial system to a binomial system using sexual systems of plant classification.

Classification

Relies on physical morphological, and structural traits, will succeed only if it’s free from all irrelevant descriptive details and restricted to essentials.

Linnean hierarchy

nested hierarchy of levels (Kingdom, Phylum/Division, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species)

Plant Classification

Characteristics of reproductive structures such as flowers, fruits, and cones are the primary characters used to define groups of plants. Cotified split is artificial, but still used informally. Based on presence/absence/number/location of stamens, pistils, petals, and sepal.

Plant Marriages

Whether the plant is on its own (clandestine), in two beds (husband and wife have seperate beds), in one bed where husbands are related to each other or with subordination, or polyamory.

Botanical Nomenclature

One one scientific name per a species, with latin as the base. Are binomials (genus and specific epithet), but also include an authority (L.)

Families

Larger groups of plants comprised of groups of genera. Always capitalized with -aceae.

Biodiversity

inventory of the number and variety of organisms that inhabit earth.

Slash and Burn

increases biodiversity by girdling bark, drying trees, and burning them within the periphery to fertilize land for new growth. This is so that native plants can return to repopulate via ecological release.

prescribed fire

burning land to see what exactly grows back

Charles Darwin (1809)

Independently arrived at the theory of natural selection (alongside Wallace) by studying diverse plants and animal life (like finches).

Natural Selection

Environmental pressures are drivers of change, where those who survive will pass on their genes to the next generation. This allows for variation, overproduction, competition, and survival to eventually reproduce.

Artificial Selection

Selecting specific plants/animals with desirable traits and breeding them to shape the characteristics of future generations. Ex: wild mustard was breed to select for leaves (kale), stems and flowers (broccoli), and flower clusters (cauliflower) OR dairy cattle being breed for high milk production

Phylogenetics

Study of the evolutionary history and relationships among individuals, groups of organisms, or species. (Tree of life, descent from common ancestor)

Systematics

Study of the biological diversity and the evolutionary relationships among organisms over time.

Ethnobotany

Folk Taxonomy

Kingdom

Second highest rank, just below domain. Includes Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Archaea, and Bacteria.

Phyllum/Division

Third highest rank, below Kingdom. 14 phyla in the plant kingdom Plantae. Ex: magnoliophyta and byrophyta

Class

Fourth highest rank, below Division. Ex: Conifers, Monocots, and Dicots

Order

Fifth highest rank, below Class. Ex: Rosales, Sapindales

Family

Sixth highest rank, below Class. Ex: Sapindaceae, Asteraceae

Genus

Seventh highest rank, below Family. Ex: Acer, Malus

Species

Eighth highest rank, below Genus. Ex: Zea mays

Natural Plant Products

20,000 angiosperms have been used as food, with 70,000 angiosperms have been used as medicine.

Crop Wild Relatives

Wild relatives of crops must exist in order to get new types of crops → increase biodiversity. Ex: Prunus salicina (chinese plum) is the wild relative of almonds.

Angiosperm diversity

Roughly 250,000 - 400,000 species of angiosperms across 400 families.

Cultivars

Cultivated plant that has been selected for desired traits, and retains those traits when propagated. Ex: Granny Smith is an apple cultivar.

Subspecies

Ninth highest rank, below species. Used for populations that live in different area and vary in size, shape, or physical characteristics. Ex: Pinus torreyana subsp. insularis (Santa Rose Island Torrey Pine, grows exclusively in Santa Rosa Island)

Varieties

Also ninth highest rank, at the same level as subspecies. Live in the same geographic range, with subtle differences in hairiness, leaf shape, or flower/fruit color. Ex: Persicaria amphibia var. emersa

Herbals

Traditional book describing plants and their medicinal properties. Invention of the printing press in the 15th century allowed botanical works to be more easily produced.

Evolution

Natural selection, mutation, non-random mating (certain characteristics that make individuals more or less likely to reproduce), genetic drift (frequency of certain alleles in a population), gene flow (movement of alleles into or out of populations). Ex: the diversity of the finches that Darwin discovered evolved from a common ancestor, but consume different foods like insects, grubs, seeds, fruit, or can even use tools.