Question

Which of the following taxonomists described the classification of the plant kingdom in the book ‘Families of flowering plants’?
A. Cronquist
B. Takhtajan
C. Benson
D. Hutchinson

Answer 1

Hint:- Based on multiple characteristics, all living organisms are classified into five major kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia. The classification is based upon many characters such as the structure of their cells, mode of nutrition, organization of their bodies, reproduction, etc.

Complete step-by-step solution:- The plant kingdom includes all the plants. Plants are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms; most of which are autotrophs. Plant cell has a characteristic feature that is the presence of a rigid cell wall. They also have chlorophyll pigment in their chloroplasts which help in the process of photosynthesis.
Many biologists wrote books related to the classification of plants. The book ‘Families of the flowering plants’ was written by John Hutchinson who was an English botanist and taxonomist. He had great taxonomic and drawing skills. Even after his retirement, he never stopped studying about the phylogeny of the flowering plants and published many books related to it. In his book ‘Families of the flowering plants’, he classified plants into two categories i.e. monocotyledons and dicotyledons, which are further classified more. So the correct option is (D) Hutchinson.
Additional information: At almost the same time as Hutchinson (in 1925), another botanist Alfred Barton Rendle wrote a book on a similar type of classification named ‘The classification of flowering plants’. The way in which they described flowering plants in their books, it suggested one marks the closing of a chapter and other marks the opening of a new one.

Note:-
According to the latest classification system, the plant kingdom has five subgroups. These are thallophyta, bryophyta, pteridophyta, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Among these subgroups, only angiosperms are plants that produce flowers, and hence are called flowering plants.