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:
“The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“What we have to do ... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“... city areas with flourishing diversity sprout strange and unpredictable uses and peculiar scenes. But this is not a drawback of diversity. This is the point ... of it.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)