Practice question

Artificial classification groups organisms using one or very few conspicuous morphological traits arbitrarily selected such as growth habit herb shrub tree, flower colour, leaf shape or number of stamens as in Linnaean sexual system. It ignores overall affinity and converges unrelated plants sharing single trait creating polyphyletic assemblages. All characters approach describes natural system, DNA data phylogenetic modern molecular, phylogeny phylogenetic system based on common descent. Artificial systems easy to construct using keys but produce unnatural groupings, example Linnaeus 24 classes based on androecium counts. Serves convenient identification but fails to predict other characters, superseded by natural systems Bentham Hooker.