Acer pseudoplatanus leafAcer pseudoplatanus leaf

Acer pseudoplatanus

Botany is a fascinating science. Thanks to it we will be able to know all the secrets of plants, and I am not only referring to their characteristics visible to the naked eye, but we can also go deeper and see them, for example, through a microscope.

Thus, little by little the researchers have been able to group them into groups, called botanical families. Let’s know what they are and which are the main ones.

Pink flower camelliapink flower camelia

Camellia

The Plant Kingdom is composed of 400.000 known and accepted species. Each of them has its own characteristics that make it unique; however, as with animal families, they too have “cousins” with whom they share part of their genetics. So, to differentiate them from the others botanists group them into families. Its members may have the same type of flower, or the same leaves or the same fruit, but they differ from other plants in everything else.

How many botanical families are there? Many, more than 100, as shown in the Wikipedia. Among them, there are some that are better known than others, such as the following:

  • Aizoaceae: it includes the succulent plants Mesembryanthemum and Trianthema.
  • Alstroemeriaceae: where we find the beautiful Alstromeria.
  • apocynaceae: the family of adenium (Desert Rose), and of the dipladenia, Among others.
  • arecaceae: all species of palms they belong to this family.
  • Dryopteridaceae: one of the families of the Ferns, in this case, of Dryopteris and Polystichum.
  • Euphorbiaceae: among its most prominent members we find the Euphorbia, jatropha y croton.
  • Fabaceae: legumes are some of the most cultivated, since they fix nitrogen to the soil. We find ornamental plants, such as the Delonix (flamboyán) or Parkinsonia, but also from an orchard like the Jewish or lima beans.
  • Geraniaceae: the family of the precious flowers: the geraniums.
  • ginkgoaceae: composed of a single species, the Ginkgo biloba.
Palms Dypsis lutescensDypsis lutescens palms

Deeply shining

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