Plant Systematics

Gurcharan Singh is a practicing taxonomist with experience in the floristics and phytosociology of NW Himalayas and the general nomenclatural subject. He also has knowledge on the Floristics of SW United States, mainly California plants. Now retired, after nearly 40 years of experience in teaching taxonomy, ecology and environment at University of Delhi, India. He has published 42 research papers, including those on new species and nomenclatural changes. He has also authored 14 books. He is presently engaged in developing an online database that will help in online identification and providing guidance in various online forums.

Plants, Taxonomy and Systematics: Plants and Kingdoms of Life, Two Kingdom System, Two Empires Thee Kingdoms, Five Kingdom System, Six or Seven Kingdoms?, The Plant Kingdom, Taxonomy and Systematics, Basic Components (Principles) of Systematics, Aims of Systematics, Advancement levels in Systematics.



Descriptive Terminology: Habit and life span, Habitat, Roots, Stems, Leaves, Leaf arrangement, Leaf duration, Leaf incision, Stipules, Leaf shape, Leaf margin, Leaf base, Leaf apex, Leaf surface, Venation, Inflorescence, Racemose types, Cymose types, Specialized types, Flower, Calyx, Corolla, Perianth, Androecium, Gynoecium, Fruit, Simple fruits, Aggregate fruits, Multiple fruits, Floral diagram, Floral formula.



Process of Identification: Specimen preparation, Field work, Equipment, Pressing, handling special groups, Drying, Herbarium methods, Botanical gardens, Herbaria, Pest control, Virtual herbarium, Identification methods, Taxonomic literature, Taxonomic keys, Computers in identification, DNA Barcoding.



Systematic evidence, Interdisciplinary Approach: Morphology, Habit, Underground parts, Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, Anatomy, Wood Anatomy, Trichomes, Epidermal features, Leaf anatomy, Floral Anatomy. Floral Anatomy, Embryology, Families marked out by distinct embryological features, Specific examples of role of embryological data, Palynology, Pollen aggregation, Pollen wall, Pollen aperture, Micromorphology and Ultrastructure, Micromorphology, Ultrastructure, Chromosomes, Chromosomal number, Chromosomal structure, Chromosomal behavior, Chemotaxonomy, Primary metabolites, Secondary metabolites, Non-semantide Macromolecules, Proteins, Molecular systematics, Molecular evolution, Location of molecular data, Molecular techniques, DNA polymorphism, Examples of molecular studies, Species vs Gene trees.



Hierarchical Classification: Taxonomic groups categories and ranks, Utilization of categories, Species concept, Infraspecific ranks, Genus, Family.



Nomenclature of Plants: Need for Scientific names, Why Latin? Development of Botanical Code, Botanical Code, Preamble, Principles of ICN, Names of Taxa, The Type Method, Author Citation, Publication of Names, Rejection of Names, Principle of Priority, Names of Hybrids, Names of Cultivated Plants, Unified Biological Nomenclature, Draft BioCode, PhyloCode.