Adanson system

The Adanson system, published by French botanist Michel Adanson as the Familles des plantes in two volumes in 1763, was an important step in botanical nomenclature by establishing the ordering of genera into families.

Michel Adanson listed 58 families, divided by sections, for the 1615 genera known to him. He gave these both French and Latin names. The system was completed by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789.

Plant families
Adanson's listing (Pages 1-7 of Part II) of families is as follows (with page numbers of families together with sections and genera in parentheses). Note spelling varies throughout text. The detailed descriptions of families are separately paginated, and shown here in italics, after the Latin names. Some families shown with sections (note not all sections were named, some were just described).


 * 1) Bissus (page 8) Byssi
 * 2) Champignons Fungi 4
 * 3) Fucus Fuci 12
 * 4) Epatikes Hepaticae 14
 * 5) Foujeres Filices 16
 * 6) Palmiers Palmae 22
 * 7) Gramens Gramina 26
 * 8) Liliasees (page 9) Liliaceae 42
 * 9) Junci 46
 * 10) Lilia
 * 11) Scillae
 * 12) Cepae
 * 13) Asparagi 51
 * 14) Hyacinthi 52
 * 15) Narcissi 55
 * 16) Irides 58
 * 17) Jenjanbres Zingiberes 61
 * 18) Orchis Orchides 68
 * 19) Aristoloches Aristolochiae 71
 * 20) Eleagnus Elaeagni 77
 * 21) Onagres Onagrae 81
 * 22) Mirtes (page 10) Myrti 86
 * 23) Ombelliferes Umbelletae 89
 * 24) Composees Compositae 103
 * 25) Campanules (page 11) Campanulae 132
 * 26) Briones Bryoniae 135
 * 27) Aparines Aparines 140
 * 28) Scabieuses Scabiosae 148
 * 29) Chevrefeuilles Caprifolia 153
 * 30) Aireles Vaccinia 160
 * 31) Apocins Apocyna 167
 * 32) Bouraches Borragines 173
 * 33) Labiees (page 12) Labiatae 180
 * 34) Vervenes Verbenae 195
 * 35) Personees Personatae 202
 * 36) Solanons Solana 215
 * 37) Jasmins Jasmina 220
 * 38) Anagallis (page 13) Anagallides 227
 * 39) Salikaires Salicariae 232
 * 40) Pourpiers Portulacae 235
 * 41) Joubarbes Seda 246
 * 42) Alsines Alsines 250
 * 43) Blitons Blita 258
 * 44) Jalaps Jalapae 263
 * 45) Amarantes Amaranthi 266
 * 46) Espargoutes Spergulae 270
 * 47) Persikaires Persicariae 273
 * 48) Garou (page 14) Thymelaeae 278
 * 49) Rosiers Rosae 286
 * 50) Jujubiers Zizyphi 297
 * 51) Legumineuses Leguminosae 306
 * 52) Pistachiers (page 15) Pistaciae 332
 * 53) Titimales Tithymali 346
 * 54) Anones Anonae 359
 * 55) Chataigners Castaneae 366
 * 56) Tilleuls Tiliae 378
 * 57) Geranions Gerania 384
 * 58) Mauves Malvae 390
 * 59) Capriers Capparides 402
 * 60) Cruciferes (page 16) Cruciferae 409
 * 61) Pavots Papavera 425
 * 62) Cistes Cisti 434
 * 63) Renoncules Ranunculi 451
 * 64) Arons Ara 461
 * 65) Pins (page 17) Pinus 473
 * 66) Mousses Musci 482