Diversity

The table below shows some species count estimates of different green plant (Viridiplantae) divisions. It suggests there are about 300,000 species of living Viridiplantae, of which 85–90% are flowering plants. (Note: as these are from different sources and different dates, they are not necessarily comparable, and like all species counts, are subject to a degree of uncertainty in some cases.) 

 

Diversity of living green plant (Viridiplantae) divisions

Informal group	Division name	Common name	No. of living species	Approximate No. in informal group
Green algae	Chlorophyta	green algae (chlorophytes)	3,800–4,300 [19][20]	8,500 (6,600–10,300)
	Charophyta	green algae (e.g. desmids & stoneworts)	2,800–6,000 [21][22]
Bryophytes	Marchantiophyta	liverworts	6,000–8,000 [23]	19,000 (18,100–20,200)
	Anthocerotophyta	hornworts	100–200 [24]
	Bryophyta	mosses	12,000 [25]
Pteridophytes	Lycopodiophyta	club mosses	1,200 [14]	12,000 (12,200)
	Pteridophyta	ferns, whisk ferns & horsetails	11,000 [14]
Seed plants	Cycadophyta	cycads	160 [26]	260,000 (259,511)
	Ginkgophyta	ginkgo	1 [27]
	Pinophyta	conifers	630 [14]
	Gnetophyta	gnetophytes	70 [14]
	Magnoliophyta	flowering plants	258,650 [28]

The naming of plants is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (see cultivated plant taxonomy).