The Vegetable Kingdom
Or, the Structure, Classification, and Uses of Plants Illustrated upon the Natural System

This 1847 milestone in the development of plant taxonomy defines the vegetable kingdom in terms of 'alliances' of plants.

John Lindley (Author)

9781108077224, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 March 2015

986 pages, 527 b/w illus.
21.7 x 14 x 6 cm, 1.3 kg

Employed early in his career by Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist John Lindley (1799–1865) is best known for his recommendation that Kew Gardens should become a national botanical institution, and for saving the Royal Horticultural Society from financial disaster. As an author, he is best remembered for his various works on taxonomy and classification. This work, one of his most famous, was first published in 1846; reissued here is the revised third edition of 1847. Lindley describes his motive as being 'to make his countrymen acquainted with the progress of Systematic Botany abroad' given that the 'superficial and useless system of Linnaeus' was now consigned to history. The work, nonetheless an important milestone in the development of plant taxonomy, gives an overview of the various classification systems used since that of John Ray, and goes on to define the vegetable kingdom in terms of classes and 'alliances' of plants.

Preface
Introduction
Classificatory system
Thallogens
Acrogens
Rhizogens
Endogens
Dictyogens
Gymnogens
Exogens
Genera insufficiently known
Errata and original gender
Estimated number of genera and species
Artificial analysis of the orders
Index of scientific and vernacular names
Index of genera, orders, classes, etc.
Abbreviations.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]