PLANT CLASSIFICATION

INTRODUCTION TO PLANT MORPHOLOGY Plant identification relies on knowledge of taxonomy and understanding of stem, leaf, bud, flower and fruit morphology. Morphology is the Greek word for “the study of shape,” and plant morphology is the study of the external plant structures and shapes. While the original botanical resource,  Species plantarum  was published by Carolus Linnaeus in 1753, one of the most comprehensive references currently available for plant morphology is Huxley, A. (ed.)  The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening . London, Macmillan Press, 1992. A working knowledge of morphological descriptors for plant identification enables the use of dichotomous keys as well as herbarium samples and digital databases. A herbarium is a collection of pressed and dried plants that is systematically arranged for research and plant identification purposes. Media 13.1:  Plant Collecting & Herbarium Research Pt 1  [New Tab] [1]  shows the pr...