TORREYA 



November, 1918 

 Vol. 18 No. II 



A SKETCH OF PLANT CLASSIFICATION FROM 

 THEOPHRASTUS TO THE PRESENT* 



By Alfred Gundersen 



The history of plant classification begins with the ancients, 

 but little progress was made till the time of the sixteenth century. 

 Gradually the idea of natural affinity developed, but it was not 

 till the nineteenth century, with the acceptance of the doctrine 

 of evolution, that the significance of affinity was realized. 



The present article mentions men and publications that have 

 chiefly influenced the development of the classification of the 

 higher plants. Thanks are due to Dr. C. S. Gager for the sug- 

 gestion leading to these studies. 



Earliest Writers 



Theophrastus, "first of real botanists in point of time," was 

 born about 370 B.C. on Mitylene, the island off Asia Minor 

 where Aristotle taught Alexander. Theophrastus became a 

 pupil of Aristotle in Athens, and later his successor. He wrote 

 on many subjects; his "Histor}^ of Plants," the oldest botanical 

 work in existence, has recently been translated into English. 

 About five hundred species, chiefly cultivated plants, are taken 

 up. "In considering the distinctive characters of plants and 

 their nature," he writes, "one must take into account their 

 parts, their qualities, the way in which their life originates, and 

 the course which it follows in each case. ... It has not been 

 satisfactorily determined what ought and what ought not to be 

 called parts of plants. . . . The most important classes of plants 

 are tree, shrub, undershrub and herb." Of flowers he says: 



* Brooklj-n Botanic Garden Contributions No. 21. 

 [No. 10. Vol. i8 of ToRREYA, Comprising pp. 197-211, was issued 19 November 1918.] 



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