APG

CLASSIFICATION
Prepared by
Mamita Kalita
Assistant Professor
Botany, Digboi College
• The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to an
informal international group of systematic botanists who
came together to try to establish a consensus view of the
taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that would
reflect new knowledge about their relationships based upon
phylogenetic studies.

• An important motivation for the group was what they viewed

as deficiencies in prior angiosperm classifications, which
were not based on monophyletic groups (i.e. groups
consisting of all the descendants of a common ancestor).

• As of now, four incremental versions of a classification

system have resulted from this collaboration each superseding
the previous systems (published in 1998, 2003, 2009 and
2016).

• Peter F. Stevens, one of the authors of all four of the APG

classifications maintains a web site, APweb, hosted by the
Missouri Botanical Garden, which regularly update the
information regularly since 2001 (Stevens, 2001 onwards).
 APG II (2003)
APG III (2009)
APG I (1998) APG IV (2016)

APG
PRINCIPLES OF APG CLASSIFICATION

The principles of the APG's approach to classification were set out in

the first paper of 1998.

• The Linnaean system of orders and families should be

retained. The family is central in flowering plant systematics. An
ordinal classification of families is proposed as a "reference tool of
broad utility". Orders are considered to be of particular value in
teaching and in studying family relationships.

• Groups should be monophyletic (i.e. consist of all descendants of

a common ancestor). The main reason why existing systems are
rejected is because they do not have this property, they are not
phylogenetic.

• A broad approach is taken to defining the limits of groups. Thus, of

orders, it is said that a limited number of larger orders will be more
useful. Families containing only a single genus and orders
containing only a single family are avoided where this is possible
without violating the over-riding requirement for monophyly.
• The authors say that it is "not possible, nor is it
desirable" to name all clades in a phylogenetic tree;
however, systematists need to agree on names for some clades,
particularly orders and families, to facilitate communication
and discussion.
 APG I system
• The initial 1998 paper by the APG made angiosperms the first
large group of organisms to be systematically re-classified
primarily on the basis of genetic characteristics.

• Formal, scientific names are not used above the level of

order, named clades being used instead. Thus eudicots and
monocots are not given a formal rank on the grounds that "it is
not yet clear at which level they should be recognized".

• A substantial number of taxa whose classification had

traditionally been uncertain are given places, although there still
remain 25 families of "uncertain position".

• Alternative classifications are provided for some groups, in

which a number of families can either be regarded as separate
or can be merged into a single larger family.
For example, the Fumariaceae can either be treated as a
separate family or as part of Papaveraceae.
• A major outcome of the classification is the disappearance
of the traditional division of the flowering plants into two
groups, monocots and dicots.

• The monocots are recognized as a clade, but the dicots

are not, with a number of former dicots being placed in
separate groups basal to both monocots and the remaining
dicots, the eudicots or “true dicots”.

• The APG system of plant classification is the first, now

obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based,
system of plant taxonomy that was published in 1998 by the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.

• It was superseded in 2003 by a revision, the APG II system,

and then in 2009 by a further revision, the APG III system.

The original APG system is unusual in being based, not on total evidence, but
on the cladistic analysis of the DNA sequences of three genes, two chloroplast
genes and one gene coding for ribosomes
The main groups in the system (all unranked clades) are:

• ANGIOSPERMS
monocots
commelinoids

eudicots
core eudicots
rosids
eurosids I
eurosids II

asterids
euasterids I
euasterids II

The APG system recognises 462 families and 40

orders.
 APG II system
• The second paper published by the APG presents an update to
the original classification of 1998.

• The authors say that changes have been proposed only

when there is "substantial new evidence" which supports them.

• The proposed classification continues the tradition of seeking

broad circumscriptions of taxa, for example trying to place small
families containing only one genus in a larger group.

• The authors say that they have generally accepted the views
of specialists, although noting that specialists "nearly always
favour splitting of groups" regarded as too varied in their
morphology.

• APG II continues and indeed extends the use of alternative

“bracketed" taxa allowing the choice of either a large family
or a number of smaller ones.
For example, the large Asparagaceae family includes 7 “bracketed”
families which can either be considered as part of the
Asparagaceae or as separate families.
Some of the main changes in APG II are:
• New orders are proposed, particularly to accommodate the
'basal clades' left as families in the first system.
• Many of the previously unplaced families are now located
within the system.
• Several major families are re-structured.

• ANGIOSPERMS
magnoliids
monocots
commelinids

eudicots
core eudicots
rosids
eurosids I
eurosids II
asterids
euasterids I
euasterids II

The APG II system recognized 45 orders, five more than the

APG system.
 APG III system

• The third paper from the APG updates the system described in
the 2003 paper.

• The broad outline of the system remains unchanged, but

the number of previously unplaced families and genera is
significantly reduced.

• This requires the recognition of both new orders and new

families compared to the previous classification.

• The number of orders goes up from 45 to 59; only 10 families

are not placed in an order and only two of these (Apodanthaceae
and Cynomoriaceae) are left entirely outside the classification.

• A major change is that the paper discontinues the use of

'bracketed' families in favour of larger, more inclusive families.
As a result, the APG III system contains only 415 families, rather
than the 457 of APG II.
• APG III recognized 415 families, 42 fewer than in the
previous system. Forty-four of the 55 "bracketed families"
were discontinued, and 18 other families were discontinued as
well.

• 20 families were accepted in the APG III system which

had not been in the previous system, and a few families were
moved to a different position.
 APG IV system

• The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the

fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based,
system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms)
being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG).

• It was published in 2016, seven years after its predecessor

the APG III system was published in 2009, and 18 years after
the first APG system was published in 1998.

• Further progress was made by the use of large banks of

genes, including those of plastid, mitochondrial and nuclear
ribosomal origin (Douglas et al., 2011). The fourth version was
finally published in 2016, after an International Conference at
Royal Botanical Gardens (2015) and also an online survey of
botanists and other users.

• Compared to the APG III system, the APG IV system recognizes

five new orders (Boraginales, Dilleniales, Icacinales,
Metteniusales and Vahliales), along with some new families,
making a total of 64 angiosperm orders and 416 families.
• According to the APG classification, the basal angiosperms
are represented as the ANA grade (Amborellales, Nymphaeales
and Austrobaileyales) that leads to the major radiation of
angiosperms and all the remaining angiosperms are together
known as the MESANGIOSPERMS.

• The Mesangiosperms comprises of five clades:

Clade-I: Chloranthales; Clade-II: Magnoliides; Clade-III:
Monocots; Clade-IV: Ceratophyllales; Clade-V: Eudicots

The general scheme of arrangement followed in APG IV (2016) is

as follows:
 the ANA grade;
 a clade of Magnoliid families;
 a clade having all Monocots;
 a large Eudicot (tricolpate) clade subdivided into two major
groups:
Superrosids
Superasterids
MERITS

1. It adopts the phylogenetic principle of monophyly.

2. It has derived information from sources like morphology,
embryology, molecular biology, anatomy, palynology,
and phytochemistry.
3. Formal names are given only where monophyly has been
firmly established.
4. It is based on the recent advances in research and is
gaining authority.

DEMERITS

5. It is limited to the taxonomic level of order and family.

6. It is not very popular.
7. Several families or genera have not been placed yet.
8. The orders are recognized under informal groups like
Magnoliids, Eudicots. These names do not conform to
the ICN.