Semester-III
Title of the Course : Angiosperm Systematics
Nature of course : Minor-III
Course code :
Total Credits : 04
Distribution of Marks: 60+40=100
Lectures: 60
Unit 1: Significance of Plant Systematics (9 classes)
Introduction to systematics; Plant identification, Classification, Nomenclature. Evidences from palynology, cytology, phytochemistry and molecular data. Field inventory; Functions of Herbarium; Important herbaria and botanical gardens of the world and India; Virtual herbarium; E-flora; Documentation: Flora, Monographs, Journals; Keys: Single access and Multi-access.
Unit 2: Taxonomic hierarchy (5 classes)
Concept of taxa (family, genus, species); Categories and taxonomic hierarchy; Species concept (taxonomic, biological, evolutionary).
Unit 3: Botanical nomenclature (06 classes)
Principles and rules (ICN); Ranks and names; Typification, author citation, valid publication, rejection of names, principle of priority and its limitations; Names of hybrids.
Unit 4: Systems of classification (10 classes)
Major contributions of Theophrastus, Bauhin, Tournefort, Linnaeus, Adanson, de Candolle, Bessey, Hutchinson, Takhtajan and Cronquist; Classification systems of Bentham and Hooker (upto series) and Engler and Prantl (upto series); Brief reference of Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG IV) classification.
Unit 5: Biometrics, numerical taxonomy and cladistics (7 classes)
Characters; Variations; OTUs, character weighting and coding; Cluster analysis; Phenograms, cladograms (definitions and differences).
Unit 6: Phylogeny of Angiosperms (8 classes)
Terms and concepts (primitive and advanced, homology and analogy, parallelism and convergence, monophyly, Paraphyly, polyphyly and clades). Origin and evolution of angiosperms; Co-evolution of angiosperms and animals; Methods of illustrating evolutionary relationship (phylogenetic tree, cladogram).
Laboratory activities (Practical)
1. Study of vegetative and floral characters of the following families as per the availability of local specimens
a. Magnoliaceae
b. Brassicaceae
c. Malvaceae
d. Lamiaceae
e. Solanaceae
f. Asteraceae
g. Poaceae
2. Mounting of a properly dried and pressed specimen of any wild plant with herbarium label (to be submitted in the record book).
Suggested Readings
1. Singh, (2012). Plant Systematics: Theory and Practice Oxford & IBH Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. 3rdedition.
2. Jeffrey, C. (1982). An Introduction to Plant Taxonomy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
3. Judd, W.S., Campbell, C.S., Kellogg, E.A., Stevens, P.F. (2002). Plant Systematics-A Phylogenetic Approach. Sinauer Associates Inc., U.S.A. 2nd edition.
4. Maheshwari, J.K. (1963). Flora of Delhi. CSIR, New Delhi.