Ferdinand Mueller and the Shape of Nature: Nineteenth-century Systems of Plant Classification

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, systematic botanists were preoccupied with the search for a so-called 'natural' system of classification, in which the names, order and rank of groups conveyed information about the relationships between plants. One such was Ferdinand Mueller who first identified this as a problem in which he was interested as a young man in Schleswig-Holstein. After moving to Australia in 1847, he encountered a flora so rich and diverse that he was emboldened to draw his own conclusions in systematics. These incorporated ideas originating in the previous century such as 'continuity' and the 'constancy' of species, evident in the work of Linnaeus and Jussieu, but also newer ideas, especially in relation to gymnosperms. Mueller met with resistance to his version of the natural system from Joseph Hooker and George Bentham at Kew Gardens in England, but received tacit support from colleagues in continental Europe who were busy making their own changes to classification. In Australia, Mueller was able to bring his influence to bear more successfully, and those who followed his version of the natural system helped him to establish a more independent local tradition in science.