Des Higgins writes
You can get a fright if you open a "modern" text book alright and see a
load of family names that look kind of familiar and recognisable (like
Poaceae and Lamiaceae like you mention above or Papilionaceae like
below) but it does seem like endless tinkering. It makes me feel like
a grumpy old man and I am only 47. Taxonomists claim that nomenclature
is important (which it is) to help organise knowledge but it becomes
self defeating if it remains permanently unstable. Users (e.g.
gardeners or field botanists) become cynical and start saying things
like: "x belongs to the yaceae, for this week at any rate"
or "anyone know what family z belongs to this week?" As for cladists of
different religious hues and their interminable wars, I am reminded of
Swift and the war between the bigendians and littlendians. Making
perfect compost is simple in comparison.

What really frightens me is the whole DNA stuff. The few results I have
seen reported of that seem to overturn everything I have learnt. Since I
am older and grumpier than you, I am strongly tempted just to ignore the
whole thing!
--
Kay