Question

Chief merit of Bentham and Hooker's classification is that

A) The system is mostly based on evolutionary concepts.

B) It is a natural system of classification of all groups of plants.

C) It also considered the phylogenetic aspects.

D) The descriptions of taxa are based on actual examination of specimens.

Answer 1

Hint: Classification is the process of categorizing things on the basis of properties. Organisms are grouped together when they have common features. The classification of living things includes seven levels such as kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

Complete Answer:

- First we should know about Bentham and Hooker’s classification to answer this question. It was suggested by George Bentham (1800-1884) and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), two English botanists. 

- Their classification scheme was written in three volumes in 'Genera Plantarum' and they had described in 202 orders of 97,205 species of seeded plants. 

- The new 'orders' are referred to as 'cohorts' and 'families' as 'orders' in the plant classification of Bentham and Hooker. 

- The seeded plants are classified into three groups – Dicotyledonae, Monocotyledonae and Gymnospermae.

Now, let us find the solution from the options- 

- Classification of Bentham and Hooker is the most natural method, based on actual specimen examination.

- One of the really valuable inputs of this study is taxa description at all levels. The description is accurate and easy to classify to family level plant species.

- Because the description was focused on the authors' direct observation they were models of accuracy.

Thus, the correct answer is option (D) the descriptions of taxa are based on actual examination of specimens.

Note: In this classification, plant classification is pretty accurate and reliable. Since it is easy to understand, it is used as a guide to naming plants in Kew herbarium and a variety of other world herbaria.