Methodus (Mönch Book)

The full title of the work is Methodus plantas horti botanici et agri Marburgensis, a staminum situ describendi, auctore Conrado Moench .

The work was published in Marburg on May 4, 1794 . Contains 780 pages with descriptions of the principles of classification proposed by the author, and with descriptions of plants, as well as 8 pages of the foreword and 18 pages of the alphabetical index of childbirth.

On May 2, 1802, an addendum to the Method, Supplementum ad methodum plantas , was published in Marburg, which included descriptions of a number of new genera and plant species on 328 pages.

In 1966, a facsimile of Methodus and Supplementum ad methodum was published in Königstein , which also included the author's introduction and biography, prepared by William Thomas Stern .

Mönch was an opponent of the classification system of Linnaeus , was a supporter of the systems of Medicus , Gertner and Gledich . He also did not accept most of the associations and nomenclature changes of Linnaeus relating to the birth proposed by Tournefort . At the same time, Moench adopted Linnaeus' binary nomenclature. He restored the independence of a number of genera, and also proposed several new ones - in particular, Sorghum , Kniphofia , Lamarckia .

Mönch gives a detailed justification for his classification method, provides diagnostic descriptions of the species, in some cases giving detailed discussions of the problems of the taxonomy of individual plant groups. Mönch also clearly indicates the ecological features and range of the described species, which is quite rare in botanical literature of the late XVIII century.

The classification system adopted in the work is close to the Gledich system of 1749 and 1764, based on the location of the stamens in relation to other parts of the plant flower.

• Bullock, AA Conrad Moench's 'Methodus, 1794' // Kew Bulletin. - 1967. - Vol. 21 (1). - P. 124.
• Stafleu, FA Conrad Moench: A Rebel against Linnaeus // Taxon . - 1967. - Vol. 16 (1). - P. 46-48.