It is unlikely that at least one person living now knows who were those first people who noticed all kinds of differences between plants and learned to use their unique properties. No one, of course, will name the names of these ancient scholars who began to carry out such an important task for mankind as the classification of plants.
The first timid attempts to classify plants were based only on the external similarity of the studied materials. That is why very often their results were erroneous. However, deeper studying plant samples, scientists received ever new facts that significantly advanced the study of the plant world.
The modern classification of plants, like most classifications of living organisms, is based on Darwin's well-known theory. It is a kind of family tree with numerous branches. A natural confirmation of the correctness of this theory are various paleontological findings. Analysis of the structure of ancient extinct plants and its comparison with modern specimens allow us to judge the origin of species and determine the antiquity of modern plants. And the result of such studies is the unification in a group of plants having a common "ancestor". During such experiments, botanists carefully trace the evolution path of each sample and classify it.
It is conditionally possible to divide the plant world into higher and lower plants. The lower ones are algae and lichens, and the higher ones are mosses, gymnosperms, ferns and flowering plants. Accordingly, these categories are divided into different departments.
The largest can be called the department of angiosperms or flowering plants, which includes trees, shrubs, wild and cultural organisms. It should be noted that all of them significantly differ from each other in shape and size, as well as life expectancy and many other properties. It was in order to calmly navigate in this riot of wildlife, and a classification of flowering plants was created. She brought together a huge number of families, creating groups and subgroups such as species, genus, order, class and department. These groups were created on the basis of structural features, common ways of development and reproduction of plants.
The classification of plants in 1789 underwent major changes. The book, which was written by the famous botanist Antoine Laurent Jouet, entitled “Plant births arranged in a natural order”, divided the flowering department into 15 classes, within which there were about 100 “natural orders”. This work brought worldwide fame to the French botanist, and most of the names invented by him are still used today.
Some wildlife lovers do not seriously engage in such a rather complicated science as botany, but they like to plant indoor plants. The classification of indoor plants, which divides this section into three groups: moderate-light plants, shade-tolerant, and photophilous, may well come in handy for such home-based “scientists”.
The first group includes almost all known indoor plants. Citrus fruits, hydrangeas, primrose and begonias feel great in moderate light.
The second group consists of ferns, ivy, room grapes and boxwood, plants that quite quietly survive in the shady corners of the garden.
The third group is the children of the sun, cacti, eucalyptus and coleus, plants that can not imagine their own life without the gentle rays of the sun and quickly perish from a lack of lighting.
The classification of plants for lovers of lush greenery and natural beauty in the house does not matter. The main thing for them is timely top dressing, watering, soil change and adequate lighting for their pets. After all, instead of plants, they bring comfort, and an atmosphere of peace and only the subservient charm of wildlife to them