Who is Caius Plinius - Taxonomy?
Caius Plinius Seconds, also known as Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.), a Roman naturalist and scholar, born in Como, mentioned nearly a thousand plants in his 'Historia Naturals'. This work in 37 volumes is a very elaborate encyclopedia, often critical but of great value, since it contains a wealth of information not to be found elsewhere. Sixteen of these volumes dealt largely with plants, treated such topics as medicinal properties, classification, forestry, plant anatomy, and the practice of horticulture.
Pliny seemed to have little interest in the classification of plant on the basis of their resemblances. He classified trees as forest trees, exotic trees, and fruit trees. He divided forest trees into glandiferous and pitch-bearing; the former including all the catkin bearing trees, the latter most of the Conifers.