Journey back to school days for a second–recall a version of this mnemonic? ” King Philip Cried Out, “For Goodness Sakes!”
Yes, it was biology class and you were learning the basic taxonomic system of classification (blame Linnaeus again).
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Carl Linnaeus was the main instigator for developing a workable classification system and his ideas influenced generations of scientist/botanists ever since. Carl loved plants from the beginning; that his father was an avid gardener probably was a big influence. Plus, while he studied to become a physician in the 1700’s, the curriculum required detailed plant studies so a doctor could make medical prescriptions. As he became known, Carl had his own group of devoted naturalist students who would on plant gathering expeditions in Europe and on voyages of discovery to new worlds to add to botanical knowlege. As more and more specimens came back to Europe for categorization, it became obvious that a system was needed to organize the new data. What was bequeathed to posterity was the Linnean system of hierarchical classification (higher groups contain all groups beneath) and the development and consistent usage of binomial nomenclature, which gives us the specific botanical name for a plant specimen.
Having a classification system is eminently useful to depict the relationships among things precisely, especially by assigning a naming system that we can communicate with. As the science of evolution took hold (Darwin studied Linnaeus), it also provided a framework to look at and categorize things through that lens.
A major goal of biological classification systems is to reflect evolutionary relationships among organisms. Many different traits are used to classify organisms because no one type of information is always the most appropriate. Knowing phylogenetic relationships is essential for interpreting the evolution of traits of organisms. Taxonomic systems used by biologists are hierarchical, that is, each higher group contains all the groups below it.
Botany can use a slightly different mnemonic: “David, Come Out For God’s Sake!”
(Instead of “Phylum”, botany uses “Division”)
Furthermore, the categories can be ever more finely classified for the scientists with additional rankings of sub- and super- and even the development of new systems of classification, which is beyond the scope (and interest) of most gardeners but of necessity for a botanist. So, we concern ourselves on occasion with the Family of plant, but more with Genus, Species and/or Variety.
Thus, our “Jacob Kline” Monarda would be classified as:
Family: Lamiaceae— (the aromatic mint family, also having a certain flower form)
Genus: Monarda–(contains about 16 species of plants with common name beebalm, Oswego Tea, horsemint… )
Species: M. didyma ( one of those species listed above. Scarlet monarda.)
Variety or cultivar: Jacob Cline ( a chance discovery in the wild. Named for the son of Georgia plantsman/designer)
Botanical nomenclature: The genus name Monarda was derived by Linnaeus from Nicholas Monardes, a Spanish botanical explorer. Didyma is latin for “twin” or “in pairs” and refers the stamens of the flowers of this species. “Scarlet monarda” was given its binomial name Monarda didyma by Linnaeus whose system revolved around classification according to reproductive features of plants. It was considered rather risque by a number of other scientists of the time to be so focused on sexual aspects and Linnaeus took some criticism for it.
