Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The divisions and classes of plants

  • Published:
The Botanical Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Conclusion

In conclusion I wish to pay deserved tribute to two men for their outstanding contributions to the general system of plants during the twentieth century. Adolf Pascher’s extensive and critical work on the algae, culminating in a general system (1931), is the foundation and inspiration for all modern algological systems. Charles E. Bessey is usually remembered for his well known work on the phylogeny and classification of angiosperms, especially as expressed in papers published in 1897 and 1915. In a less known synopsis of the plant kingdom (1907) he discerned with considerable accuracy the classification of embryophytes which the subsequent accumulation of evidence has made necessary. As with Mendel’s peas, the scientific world was not yet ready, and I was surprised to find the present system so clearly foreshadowed in a paper more than half a century old.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Bibliography

  • Alexopoulos, Constantine J. 1952. Introductory mycology. 482 pp. Wiley. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, M. B. 1954. Studies on a blue-greenChlorella. VIII Congr. Int. Bot. [Paris]. Rapp. & Comm.17: 41–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— andJohn J. A. McLaughlin. 1959. Chromoprotein pigments of some cryptomonad flagellates. Nature184: 1047–1949.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, Chester A. 1947. An introduction to paleobotany. 433 pp. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1948. Classification of gymnosperms from the viewpoint of paleobotany. Bot. Gaz.110: 2–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1953. Origin and relationships of the cycads. Phytomorph.3: 51–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, George F. 1915. Phylogeny and relationships in the Ascomycetes. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard.2: 315–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, Irving W., andB. G. L. Swamy. 1951. The conduplicate carpel of dicotyledons and its initial trends of specialization. Amer. Jour. Bot.38: 373–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, Fred A. 1939. Keys to the phyla of organisms. 39 pp. Assoc. Stud. Store, Missoula, Mont.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belcher, J. H., andG. E. Fogg. 1955. Biochemical evidence of the affinities ofBotryococcus. New Phytol.54: 81–83. 1955.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bessey, Charles E. 1897. Phylogeny and taxonomy of the angiosperms. Bot. Gaz.24: 145–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1907. A synopsis of plant phyla. Univ. Nebr. Stud.7: 275–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1915. The phylogenetic taxonomy of flowering plants. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard.2: 109–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bessey, Ernst A. 1942. Some problems in fungus phylogeny. Mycologia34: 355–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1950. Morphology and taxonomy of the fungi. 791. pp. Blakiston. Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bissett, K. A. 1956. Cellular organization in bacteria. pp. 1–18.In: Bacterial anatomy; 6th Symp. Soc. Gen. Microbiol., London. Cambridge Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boivin, Bernard. 1956. Les families des Tracheophytes. Bull. Soc. Bot. France103: 490–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bower, F. O. 1890. On antithetic as distinct from homologous alternation of generations in plants. Ann. Bot.4: 347–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1908. The origin of a land flora. 727 pp. Macmillan. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1935. Primitive land plants. 658 pp. Macmillan. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, Alexander. 1860. Uebersicht des natürlichen Systems.In: Paul Ascherson, Flora der Provinz Brandenburg. p. 22–67. August Hirschwald, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchholz, J. T. 1946. Gymnosperms. Encyclopaedia Britannica [and in all subsequent printings to date].

  • Chadefaud, M. 1953. Les cellules flagellées des Algues et leur importance systematique. Proc. VII Int. Bot. Congr. [Stockholm]: 851–852.

  • Chamberlain, Charles J. 1935. Gymnosperms: structure and evolution. 484 pp. Univ. Chicago Press. Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, Herbert F. 1938. The kingdoms of organisms. Quart. Rev. Biol.13: 384–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1955. Observation onPrasiola mexicana … etc. Madroño13: 138–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1956. The classification of lower organisms. 302 pp. Pacific Books. Palo Alto, Calif.

    Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, Joseph J. 1936. Yellowstone thermal Myxophyceae. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.36: 1–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Couch, J. N. 1941. The structure and action of the cilia in some aquatic Phycomycetes. Amer. Jour. Bot.28: 704–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1948. A new group of organisms related toActinomyces. Jour. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc.65: 315–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronquist, Arthur. 1957. Outline of a new system of families and orders of dicotyledons. Bull. Jard. Bot. État Brux.27: 13–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeBary, Heinrich A. 1884. Vergleichende Morphologie und Biologie der Pilze, Mycetozoen, und Bacterien. 558 pp. Leipzig. Wilhelm Engelmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drouet, Francis andWilliam A. Daily. 1956. Revision of the coccoid Myxophyceae. Butler Univ., Bot. Stud.12: 1–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eames, Arthur A. 1936. Morphology of vascular plants: lower groups. 433 pp. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1952. Relationships of the Ephedrales. Phytomorph.2: 79–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehret, Charles F. 1960. Organelle systems and biological organization. Science132(3420): 115–123.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, Eugene W. 1949. The swarm-cells of Myxomycetes. Mycologia41: 141–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, Bernard, R. 1945. Flagellar studies on zoospores of some members of the Mycetozoa, Plasmodiophorales, and Chytridiales. Mycologia37: 444–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endlicher, Stephan. 1836. Genera Plantarum. Vol. 1.

  • Fitzpatrick, H. M. 1930. The lower fungi. Phycomycetes. 331 pp. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florin, Rudolf. 1931. Untersuchungen zur Stammesgeschichte der Coniferales und Cordaitales. Handl. Kung. Svensk Vet-Akad. III.10(1): 588 pp.

  • —————. 1948. On the morphology and relationships of the Taxaceae. Bot. Gaz.110: 31–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1951. Evolution in cordaites and conifers. Acta Hort. Berg.15: 285–388.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1952. Évolution et classification des Gymnospermes. Année Biol.28 C: 99–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1955. Systematics of the gymnosperms.In: A century of progress in the natural sciences. 1853–1953. pp. 323–403. Calif. Acad. Sci. San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann, I. 1960. Structure, life-history, and sex determination ofPrasiola stipitata Suhr. Ann. Bot.23: 571–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gäumann, Ernst A. 1926. Vergleichende Morphologie der Pilze. 626 pp. Gustav Fischer, Jena.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1952. The fungi. [Transl. by Frederick L. Wynd]. 420 pp. Hafner. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— andCarroll W. Dodge. 1928. Comparative morphology of the fungi. 701 pp. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaussen, H. 1941–52. Les Gymnospermes actuelles et fossiles. Trav. Lab. Forest. Toulouse, Tome II. Vol.1. Fasc. 1–8.

  • Geitler, Lothar. 1933. Diagnosen neuer Blaualgen von den Sunda-Inseln. Arch. Hydrobiol.12: (Suppl.) 622–634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldie-Smith, E. Kathleen. 1954. The position ofWoronina polycystis in the Plasmodiophoraceae. Amer. Jour. Bot.41: 441–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruner, J. W. 1925. Discovery of life in the Archean. Jour. Geol.33: 151–2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halle, T. G. 1929. Some seed-bearing pteridosperms from the Permian of China. Handl. Kung. Svensk Vet-Akad.III. (6) (8): 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haxo, F. T., andD. C. Fork. 1959. Photosynthetically active accessory pigments of cryptomonads. Nature184: 1051–1052.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hyman, Libbie H. 1940 The invertebrates: Protozoa through Ctenophora. 726 pp. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inoué, S. 1959. Motility of cilia and the mechanism of mitosis. Rev. Mod. Physics31: 402–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey, Edward C. 1899. The morphology of the central cylinder in angiosperms. Trans. Canad. Inst.6: 599–636.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1902. The structure and development of the stem in the Pteridophyta and Gymnosperms. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London. B.195: 119–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen, Donald A. 1951. A modern classification of the plant kingdom. Chron. Bot.12: 200–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khouvine, Y. 1933. Synthèse de cellulose parl’Acetobacter xylinum … etc. Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris]196: 1144–6.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koch, William J. 1951. A study of the motile cells ofVaucheria. Jour. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc.67: 123–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kylin, Harald. 1933. Über die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Phaeophyceen. Lunds Univ. Arrskr. N. V. Avd. 2. 29 (7). 102 pp.

  • Lam, H. J. 1948a. Classification and the new morphology. Acta Biotheor.8(4): 107–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1948b. A new system of the Cormophyta. Blumea6: 282–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luria, S. E. 1953. General virology. 427 pp. Wiley. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luthur, A. 1899. UeberChlorosaccus, eine neue Gattung des Süsswasseralgen, … etc. Bihang. Kung. Svensk. Vet-Akad. Handl. 24, Afd. 3, no. 13. 22 pp.

  • Manton, Irene. 1952. The fine structure of plant cilia. Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol.6: 306–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1954. The morphology of cilia as a guide to phylogeny. VIII Congr. Int. Bot., Rapp. & Comm.17: 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— andA. D. Greenwood. 1953. Further observations with the electron microscope on spermatozoids in the brown algae. Jour. Exp. Bot.4: 319–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, George W. 1932. Systematic position of the slime molds and its bearing on the classification of the fungi. Bot. Gaz.93: 421–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1940. The Myxomycetes. Bot. Rev.6: 356–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehra, P. N. 1950. Occurrence of hermaphrodite flowers and the development of female gametophyte inEphedra intermedia Schrenk et Mey. Ann. Bot., N. S.,14: 165–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— andO. N. Handoo. 1953. Morphology ofAnthoceros erectus andA. himalayensis and the phylogeny of the Anthocerotales. Bot. Gaz.114: 371–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melchior, Hans.In: Melchior & Werdermann. 1954. Engler’s Syllabus, 12th ed., vol. 1.

  • Metcalfe, C. R., andL. Chalk. 1950. Anatomy of the dictoyledons. 2 vols. The Clarendon Press. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, Stanley L. 1953. A production of amino acids under possible primitive earth conditions. Science117: 528–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nemejc, F. 1950. The natural system of plants in the light of the present palaeontological documents. Acta Mus. Nat. Prag.68(3): 1–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oheocha, C., andM. Raftery. 1959 Phycoerythrins and phycocyanins of cryptomonads. Nature184: 1049–1051.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oparin, A. I. 1938. The origin of life. [Transl. by S. Morgulis.] 270 pp. The Macmillan Co. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1957. The origin of life on the earth. [Transl. by Ann Synge.] 495 pp. Oliver and Boyd; Edinburgh. Academic Press; New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papenfuss, George F. 1951a. Phaeophyta.In: Smith, G. M. [ed.] Manual of phycology. Chronica Botanica Co., Waltham, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1951b. Problems in classification of the marine algae. Svensk Bot. Tidskr.54: 4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • -----. 1955. Classification of the algae.In: A century of progress in the natural sciences. 1853–1953. pp. 115–224. Calif. Acad. Sci. San Francisco.

  • Pascher, Adolph. 1914. Über Flagellaten und Algen. Ber. Deut. Bot. Ges.32: 136–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1931. Systematische Übersicht über die mit Flagellaten in Zusammenhang stehenden Algenreihen … etc. Beih. Bot. Centr.48 (2): 317–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paschke, Raymond, Robert Chang, andDonald Young. 1957. Probable role of gamma irradiation in the origin of life. Science125: 881.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rabinowitch, Eugene I. 1945. Photosynthesis and related processes. Vol. 1. 599 pp. Interscience. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinow, C. F. 1956. The chromatin bodies of bacteria. pp. 181–214In: Bacterial anatomy. 6th Symp Soc. Gen. Microbiol., London. Cambridge Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, Donald P. 1948. A comparison of evolutionary tendencies in plants, fungi, and animals. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club75: 442–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, L. E. 1959. An electron-microscope study of the cytology of the protozoanPeranema trichophorum. Jour. Protozool.6: 107–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothmaler, Werner, 1948. Über das natűrliche System der Organismen. Biol. Zentralbl.67: 242–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1951. Die Abeilungen und Klassen der Pflanzen. Rep. Sp. Nov.54: 256–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachs, Julius. 1874. Lehrbuch der Botanik 4th ed. 928 pp. Wilhelm Engelmann. Leipzig.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, Birbal. 1920. On the structure and affinities ofAcmopyle pancheri, Pilger. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London. B.210: 253–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salton, M. R. J. 1956. Bacterial cell walls. pp. 81–110In: Bacterial anatomy. 6th Symp. Soc. Gen Microbiol., London. Cambridge Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoute, J. C. 1925. La nature morphologique du bourgeon féminin des Cordaites. Rec. Trav. Bot. Néerl.22: 113–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D. H. 1909. Studies in fossil botany. Ed. 2, vol. 2. Adam & Charles Black. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, R. N. 1954.Fritschiella tuberosa and the algal ancestry of higher plants. VIII Congr. Int. Bot., [Paris.] Rapp. & Comm.17: 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skuja, H. 1948. Taxonomie des Phytoplanktons einiger Seen in Uppland, Schweden. Symb. Bot. Upsal.9 (3). 399 pp.

  • -----. 1953. Phylogenetische Stellung der Glaucophyceen. Proc. VII Int. Bot. Congr., [Stockholm]. pp. 823–825.

  • Smith, Gilbert M. 1938. Cryptogamic botany. 2 vols. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1950. The freshwater algae of the United States. ed. 2. 719 pp. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1955. Cryptogamic botany. ed. 2. 2 vols. McGraw-Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solereder, Hans 1908. Systematic anatomy of the dicotyledons. 2 vols. [Transl. by L. A. Boodle & F. E. Fritsch.] The Clarendon Press. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparrow, Frederick K., Jr. 1943. Acquatic Phycomycetes exclusive of the Saprolegniaceae and Pythium. 785. pp. Univ. Mich. Press. Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1960. Aquatic Phycomycetes. ed. 2. 1187 pp. Univ. Mich. Press. Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stocker, B. A. D. 1956. Bacterial flagella: morphology, constitution, and inheritance. pp. 19–40In: Bacterial anatomy. 6th Symp. Soc. Gen Microbiol., London. Cambridge Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stokes, J. L. 1954. Studies on the filamentous sheathed iron bacteriumSphaerotilus natans. Jour. Bact.67: 278–291.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strain, H. H. 1944. Chloroplast pigments. Ann. Rev. Biochem.13: 591–610.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strain, H. H. 1951. The pigments of algae.In: Smith, G. M. [ed.] Manual of Phycology. pp. 243–262. Chronica Botanica. Waltham, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takhtajan, Armen. 1958. Origins of angiospermous plants. [Translated by O. H. Gankin]. 68 pp. Amer. Inst. Biol. Sci., Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thimann, Kenneth, V. 1955. The life of bacteria. 775. pp. Macmillan. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tippo, Oswald. 1942. A modern classification of the plant kingdom. Chron. Bot.7: 203–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, Stanley, A., andElso S. Barghoorn. 1954. Occurrence of structurally preserved plants in pre-Cambrian rocks of the Canadian shield. Science119: 606–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Urey, H. C. 1952. On the early chemical history of the earth and the origin of life. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.38: 351–363.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walcott, C. D. 1914. Pre-Cambrian Algonkian flora. Smithsonian Inst., Misc. Coll.64: 77–156.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, R. H. 1959. On the broad classification of organisms. Quart. Rev. Biol.34: 210–226.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, Walter. 1930. Die Phylogenie der Pflanzen. 452. pp. Gustav Fischer. Jena.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The New York Botanical Garden, USA

    Arthur Cronquist

Authors
  1. Arthur Cronquist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cronquist, A. The divisions and classes of plants. Bot. Rev 26, 425–482 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02940572

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02940572

Keywords

Search

Navigation