What Is Botany? (12 Examples & Importances)

Last Updated on June 28, 2021 by QCity Editorial Stuff

What is Botany? Ask the average American, and they’ll likely answer, “Oh, I don’t know—it’s that science thing that helps you grow plants.” But the truth is, plants are incredibly fascinating organisms that can create life-sustaining food, clean the air and water, and even produce oxygen. In fact, botany is such a complex science that it’s a bit overwhelming for an outsider to understand. So the best way to get to know what’s going on inside a botanical garden is to get to know the people who work there. We’ll start with the people at the Gardens of Botanical Interest.

The Definition

Botany, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is the scientific study of plant life. It focuses on plant morphology, physiology, development, genetics and taxonomy.

Botany is a discipline within biology concerned with the study of plants for their economic value or as part of biotechnology.

Botany is the study of plant life which includes all living organisms that possess a chlorophyll-containing body or are photosynthetic, as well as all their nonliving elements such as soil, water, and air. The name “botany” comes from Greek botane ( βοτάνη meanins “pasture”, “herbs” “grass”, or “fodder”;) meaning to look after or care for plants. Plants can be classified in many ways including by color, size, chemical composition (phytochemistry), habitat (climate), etc.

Scientific Name: The scientific name for this botanical specimen is Citrus sinensis 、 which means it’s a citrus fruit from China .

The study of plant life has been around for a while. Historically, it has dealt with plants as food and over time, it was called botany. Primitive people who studied plants were the first to specialize in this area.

They had to know the plants that could kill or cure people.

And botany was closely linked with medicine for hundreds of years.

What Is Botany

In the sixteenth century, people began to observe plants and write books about their observations. These writers were the “fathers” of modern botany. In the nineteenth century, the work of an English scien- tist, Charles Darwin, helped botanists gain a better understanding of how plants, as well as animals, evolved from simpler ancestors. His work led botanists to set up special branches of botany.

One of these branches is “plant anatomy”, which has to do with the structure of plants and how they might be related. Experiments on plant heredity were performed to find out how various species came to be and how they could be improved. This study is called “genetics“.

“Ecology”, another branch of botany, deals with studies of the distribution of plants throughout the world, to find out why certain species grow in certain places. “Paleobotany”, another branch, works out plant evolution from the evidence of fossil remains.

Other branches of botany include “plant physiology”, which studies the way plants breathe and  make food, and “plant  pathology”, which  is concerned with the study of plant diseases.

Examples of Botany

  • Plant anatomy
  • Plant genetics
  • Cytology / Plant Cells
  • Ecology
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics
  • Plant taxonomy
  • Physiology
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Paleobotany (the study of plant fossils)

What Do Botanist Do?

The task of the botanist is to collect and study all kinds of plant specimens, including flowers, fruits, seeds, etc. They do this to understand how plants grow, respond to diseases, and evolve. They do this by studying the traits of the plants, such as their color, shape, and size. They also study the genetic characteristics of how plants reproduce.

Botanists, more than any other scientists, study plants. Not only that, they help prevent the spread of plant diseases around the world, and they also manage many of the crops that are used to feed us across the planet.

Importance of Botany

Botany is the study of plants. Plants have long been perceived as symbols of fertility, life, and immortality. Over years, the study of botany has evolved beyond providing practical information about plants to the study of their origins and the relationship between plants and humans. In recent years, the study of botany has become a social and educational tool to understand the world around us. Botany also provides us with valuable information on how our planet has evolved over thousands of years, and how this evolution has affected and continues to affect our lives. It is a subject that has been around for thousands of years and continues to evolve with ever-changing technology and knowledge.

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