One of the basic subdisciplines of plant science and life science in general, taxonomy (also known as systematics) is the study of relationships and organization of plant species. The great diversity within the plant kingdom requires a system by which plant species are named and classified. The modern system is a modification of the system first established in the eighteenth century by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. Each species is placed into a hierarchy of groups that indicate its similarity and dissimilarity to other species. These categories (taxa) are from the most to the least inclusive: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
The species is the most natural and fundamental unit. Similar species are grouped into a genus, similar genera into a family, families into orders, orders into classes, classes into phyla, and phyla into the kingdoms typically studied in plant science courses: true plants, or Plantae, Fungi, and Protista (which include many unicellular organisms and algae). Each species is given a scientific name which includes the genus name followed by the species name. An example is the scientific name of the dwarf crested iris: Iris cristata.
Morphology
Morphology includes the study of the general structure of plants.
Courses in botany and plant science often address organisms that are not, in the strict sense, plants but that nevertheless are appropriately studied in the same context.