Can you rephrase this?

Question

"Ever since humans became aware of the usefulness of plant life, there has been a need to form categories, from the most general to the most specific"

It sounds clunky to me, but I'm stuck on how to make it sound better.

Answer 1

Whilst not accepting the premise contained in your statement [Since I'm not aware of any records that might provide evidence to support it]

How about this:--

Since earliest times Man has categorised and labled the plants and creatures around Him.  There appears to be a fundamental hunger to then subdivide and specify often beyond the simple need to identify food from poison.

That avoids the premise that Man 'became aware' which is contrary to evidence of the oldest book recording man's development.  

Answer 2

........there has been a need to catalog the species..........

Answer 3

Here's how I might phrase your sentence:  "Since humans became aware of the usefulness of plants, they have felt a need to categorize them, ranging from the broadest to the narrowest categories."

Answer 4

Humans formed plant life categories, from the most general to the most specific, since we/they became aware of their usefulness...

anyway, your phrase sounds good to me

Answer 5

It sounds good already. I've been in college for 4 years already. I've read worst.