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| Summary |
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 Angiosperms represent the most recent and the most advanced group of plants. |
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 Angiosperms have been of immense importance to humans, more than any other group. |
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 There have been several attempts to classify angiosperms. |
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 One of the earliest attempts was that of Carolus Linnaeus. He was the first to use floral characteristics as the basis for classification. |
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 Another significant effort came earlier from John Ray who introduced the concept of species. |
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 A very systematic and detailed classification of angiosperms has been provided by two English Botanists, Bentham and Hooker. |
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 Bentham and Hooker classified flowering plants into three divisions Dicotyledonae, Gymnospermae and Monocotyledonae. |
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 In both dicotyledonae and monocotyledonae, they recognised classes, series, orders and families. |
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 For each of the families Bentham and Hooker provided a list of key characters with the help of which any given family can be easily identified. |
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 The system of classification proposed by Bentham and Hooker is found to be very useful and convenient for students and scientists engaged in taxonomic studies. |
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 Bentham and Hooker's classification can be described as a non-phylogenetic system of natural classification, since it is not based on evolutionary relationships. |
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