ABSTRACT
Over the last few decades, the affinities between plant groups have been redefined as more and more information is accumulated from various sources. Newer approaches in recent years include (a) increasing reliance on phytochemical information (Chemotaxonomy); (b) studies on ultrastructure and micromorphology; (c) statistical analysis of the available data without much a priori weighting and providing a synthesis of all the available information (Taxometrics); and (d) analysis of phylogenetic data to construct phylogenetic relationship diagrams (Cladistics). The aforesaid disciplines constitute the major modern trends in taxonomy. Data continues to flow from different disciplines, so that the process of analysis and synthesis is an ongoing activity. Taxonomy (Systematics) is as such a field of unending synthesis. The following disciplines have contributed to a greater or lesser extent to a better understanding of taxonomic affinities between plants.
