http://amborella.net/2010PlantSystematics/DATA/3-24-APG%202003%20Bot%20J%20Linn%20Soc%20APGII.pdf

An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II

We have counted the currently known, described and accepted number of plant species as ca 374,000, of which approximately 308,312 are vascular plants, with 295,383 flowering plants (angiosperms; monocots: 74,273; eudicots: 210,008). Global numbers of smaller plant groups are as follows: algae ca 44,000, liverworts ca 9,000, hornworts ca 225, mosses 12,700, lycopods 1,290, ferns 10,560 and gymnosperms 1,079. Phytotaxa is currently contributing more than a quarter of the ca 2000 species that are described every year, showing that it has become a major contributor to the dissemination of new species discovery. However, the rate of discovery is slowing down, due to reduction in financial and scientific support for fundamental natural history studies.

/pdf/the-number-of-known-plants-species-in-the-world-and-its-2d4josm3lz.pdf

The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase

Reconstructing the origin and evolution of land plants and their algal relatives is a fundamental problem in plant phylogenetics, and is essential for understanding how critical adaptations arose, including the embryo, vascular tissue, seeds, and flowers. Despite advances in molecular systematics, some hypotheses of relationships remain weakly resolved. Inferring deep phylogenies with bouts of rapid diversification can be problematic; however, genome-scale data should significantly increase the number of informative characters for analyses. Recent phylogenomic reconstructions focused on the major divergences of plants have resulted in promising but inconsistent results. One limitation is sparse taxon sampling, likely resulting from the difficulty and cost of data generation. To address this limitation, transcriptome data for 92 streptophyte taxa were generated and analyzed along with 11 published plant genome sequences. Phylogenetic reconstructions were conducted using up to 852 nuclear genes and 1,701,170 aligned sites. Sixty-nine analyses were performed to test the robustness of phylogenetic inferences to permutations of the data matrix or to phylogenetic method, including supermatrix, supertree, and coalescent-based approaches, maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods, partitioned and unpartitioned analyses, and amino acid versus DNA alignments. Among other results, we find robust support for a sister-group relationship between land plants and one group of streptophyte green algae, the Zygnematophyceae. Strong and robust support for a clade comprising liverworts and mosses is inconsistent with a widely accepted view of early land plant evolution, and suggests that phylogenetic hypotheses used to understand the evolution of fundamental plant traits should be reevaluated.

/pdf/phylotranscriptomic-analysis-of-the-origin-and-early-4cs38v80rr.pdf

Phylotranscriptomic analysis of the origin and early diversification of land plants

Phylogeny has long informed pteridophyte classification. As our ability to infer evolutionary trees has improved, classifications aimed at recognizing natural groups have become increasingly predic ...

A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns

• Here, we describe a new database, MaarjAM, that summarizes publicly available Glomeromycota DNA sequence data and associated metadata. The goal of the database is to facilitate the description of distribution and richness patterns in this group of fungi. • Small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences and available metadata were collated from all suitable taxonomic and ecological publications. These data have been made accessible in an open-access database (http://maarjam.botany.ut.ee). • Two hundred and eighty-two SSU rRNA gene virtual taxa (VT) were described based on a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of all collated Glomeromycota sequences. Two-thirds of VT showed limited distribution ranges, occurring in single current or historic continents or climatic zones. Those VT that associated with a taxonomically wide range of host plants also tended to have a wide geographical distribution, and vice versa. No relationships were detected between VT richness and latitude, elevation or vascular plant richness. • The collated Glomeromycota molecular diversity data suggest limited distribution ranges in most Glomeromycota taxa and a positive relationship between the width of a taxon's geographical range and its host taxonomic range. Inconsistencies between molecular and traditional taxonomy of Glomeromycota, and shortage of data from major continents and ecosystems, are highlighted.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03334.x

Apg

Papers

An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants : APG III