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To quote the site, "Biological classification systems are multi-purpose constructs with 'internal' information content in that they chart patterns of affinity and phyletic relationship. Systematists make every effort to develop and refine these systems to insure that the relationships expressed are as close to evolutionary reality as possible. This function - the depiction of lineage relationships - allows the classification system to provide a structural framework that can be used to predict, extrapolate, and explore along paths of symmetry that reflect relative genetic/genomic affinity and distance. This process can be enhanced by 'fleshing out' the systematic framework of a classification system by adding 'layers' of data. The Flowering Plant Gateway is being developed to explore procedures that 'attach' the growing mass of internet data developing for flowering plant families to stable taxonomic structures. The resulting systematic data matrix can be negotiated by anyone seeking information on a given flowering plant family, either with regard to its placement in the Thorne/Cronquist/Takhtajan systems or, via selection of a high-lighted family name, web links to other sources. The 'family search' option also includes access to internet information on non-flowering vascular plant families."

Disciplines:

• Science and Technology  / Agriculture and Environmental Sciences  / Plant Sciences

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