Diversity
The table below shows some species count estimates of different green plant (Viridiplantae) divisions. It suggests there are about 300,000 species of living Viridiplantae, of which 85-90% are flowering plants. (Note: as these are from different sources and different dates, they are not necessarily comparable, and like all species counts, are subject to a degree of uncertainty in some cases.)
| Informal group | Division name | Common name | No. of living species | Approximate No. in informal group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green algae | Chlorophyta | green algae (chlorophytes) | 3,800 – 4,300 | 8,500
(6,600 - 10,300) |
| Charophyta | green algae (e.g. desmids & stoneworts) | 2,800; 4,000-6,000 | ||
| Bryophytes | Marchantiophyta | liverworts | 6,000-8,000 | 19,000
(18,100 - 20,200) |
| Anthocerotophyta | hornworts | 100-200 | ||
| Bryophyta | mosses | 12,000 | ||
| Pteridophytes | Lycopodiophyta | club mosses | 1,200 | 12,000
(12,200) |
| Pteridophyta | ferns, whisk ferns & horsetails | 11,000 | ||
| Seed plants | Cycadophyta | cycads | 160 | 260,000
(259,511) |
| Ginkgophyta | ginkgo | 1 | ||
| Pinophyta | conifers | 630 | ||
| Gnetophyta | gnetophytes | 70 | ||
| Magnoliophyta | flowering plants | 258,650 |
The naming of plants is governed by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (see cultivated plant taxonomy).
Read more about this topic: Plant
Famous quotes containing the word diversity:
“We call the intention good which is right in itself, but the action is good, not because it contains within it some good, but because it issues from a good intention. The same act may be done by the same man at different times. According to the diversity of his intention, however, this act may be at one time good, at another bad.”
—Peter Abelard (1079–1142)
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—James Madison (1751–1836)
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—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)