The correct answer is Bentham and Hooker. EXPLANATION: • Bentham and Hooker gave a natural classification of Spermatophyta, that is, seeded plants. • Bentham and Hooker's classification was inherently formal. • Bentham and Hooker's classification was mainly based on floral characters. This was highly appreciated because floral characters tend to be more stable than vegetative characters. • This is the simplest classification. • In this classification, the phylogeny of plants is not considered, because, in this, gymnosperms are placed between dicot and monocot. • The sequence of development is as follows- • Phylogeny = gymnosperm → dicots → monocots. Related Concepts: • Carl Linnaeus is known as the father of taxonomy, he was a Swedish botanist who devised the binomial classification system, a two-part naming system to identify, classify and name organisms from bacteria to the elephant. • Gilbert Morgan Smith( G. M.Smith) was a botanist and phycologist, who worked primarily on the algae. • Theophrastus a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. His given name was Tyrtamus was given by Aristotle for his 'divine style of expression. He is often considered the father of botany for his works on plants.