The sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils
In 1736–37 Carl Linnaeus’s sexual system of plants, classes by number of stamens and orders by pistils, circulated in print and in Georg Dionysius Ehret’s table, an artificial key Linnaeus himself said was not the natural system. In the causal graph this event weakens Social Cohesion, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
Read the full account
In 1736–37 Carl Linnaeus’s sexual system of plants, classes by number of stamens and orders by pistils, circulated in print and in Georg Dionysius Ehret’s table, an artificial key Linnaeus himself said was not the natural system. Contemporaries found the nuptial metaphor indecent; later teachers treated the key as nature’s own hierarchy. The cohesion cost is a rigid classroom orthodoxy and a gendered metaphor laid on plants.
Context
Artificial keys help beginners and hide relationships. Linnaeus knew the second point and still taught the first. Ehret’s plate made the metaphor unforgettable. Sharing the drawing does not erase Linnaeus’s system. Buffon attacked system as such. That quarrel is also a polarisation row.
Why it matters
Cohesion path of modest weight and medium confidence on social harm versus teaching gain. The teaching gain of Systema 1735 remains another row.
If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Carl Linnaeus
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.28 · verified
He designed the artificial sexual key. Ehret drew the famous table; critics called it obscene.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactThe sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils
- weakensDriverSocial Cohesion
- strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 1 January 1736 · verified
An artificial sexual ranking that scandalised and crowded natural systems is a cohesion path: a public split over a rigid key taught as nature.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)
Observed
43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.
Normal is zero · any amount = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Britannica — Carolus LinnaeusEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
- 2.Linnean Society — Who was Linnaeus?The Linnean Society of London · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Linnean Society at https://www.linnean.org/learning/who-was-linnaeus (opens in a new tab) describes the sexual system as Linnaeus’s teaching key. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carolus-Linnaeus (opens in a new tab) independently treats the sexual system as artificial and famous.
(https://www.linnean.org/learning/who-was-linnaeus (opens in a new tab); The Linnean Society of London).
Established: Linnaeus published a sexual-system key in the mid-1730s. Not established: that he held plants to be literally married in canon law. Contribution is recorded as He designed the artificial sexual key. Ehret drew the famous table; critics called it obscene. The impact note is An artificial sexual ranking that scandalised and crowded natural systems is a cohesion path: a public split over a rigid key taught as nature. The dated heading stays The sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils on 1736-01-01, not a later statue, UNESCO listing, or school film. Later competitions, monuments, and adaptations are refused as extra lifetime acts of this person on this date.
Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. The sexual key is not Species Plantarum’s binomial access row. Mixed effects of The sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils are separate paths.
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.
The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.
Shared responsibility is part of The sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils. Naming Carl Linnaeus does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1736-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorCarl Linnaeus
- contributed toFactThe sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils
- weakensDriverSocial Cohesion
- strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). The sexual system of plants is published as a ranked key of stamens and pistils. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/linnaeus-sexual-system-1736
https://factrail.ai/facts/linnaeus-sexual-system-1736
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
Dispute this factNamed here, or represent someone who is? Request a right of reply.