Genera Plantarum

work by Linnaeus

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Last updated

June 11, 2026

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Genera Plantarum (1737) was a foundational work by Carolus Linnaeus that introduced formal genus descriptions and his "sexual system" for classifying plants based on their reproductive parts. This work, along with his Species Plantarum (1753), established the basis for modern plant taxonomy.1

Linnaeus is renowned for developing the principles of binomial nomenclature, a two-word system for naming organisms that remains the standard for scientific classification today. This system assigns each plant a genus name and a species name, creating a hierarchical structure for organizing the natural world.12

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Carolus Linnaeus
Classification by natural characters of Carolus Linnaeus
…contained in Clifford’s collection; and Genera Plantarum (1737; “Genera of Plants”), which modified and updated definitions of plant genera first offered by Tournefort.
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…contained in Clifford’s collection; and Genera Plantarum (1737; “Genera of Plants”), which modified and updated definitions of plant genera first offered by Tournefort.
Read More