Botany
For other meanings, see Botany (disambiguation)Botany is the
scientific study of
plantlife. As a branch of
biology, it is also sometimes referred to as
plant science(s) or
plant biology. Botany covers a wide range of scientific disciplines that study the
structure,
growth,
reproduction,
metabolism,
development,
diseases,
ecology, and
evolution of
plants.
As with other life forms in biology, plant life can be studied from different perspectives, from the
molecular,
genetic and
biochemical level through
organelles,
cells,
tissues,
organs, individuals, plant
populations, and
communities of plants. At each of these levels a botanist might be concerned with the classification (
taxonomy), structure (
anatomy), or function (
physiology) of plant life.
Historically, botany covers all organisms that were not considered to be
animals. Some of these "plant-like" organisms include
fungi (studied in
mycology),
bacteria and
viruses (studied in
microbiology), and
algae (studied in
phycology). Most algae, fungi, and microbes are no longer considered to be in the plant kingdom. However, attention is still given to them by botanists, and bacteria, fungi, and algae are usually covered in introductory botany courses.
The study of plants is important for a number of reasons. Plants are a fundamental part of life on earth. They generate the
oxygen,
food,
fibres, fuel and medicine that allow higher life forms to exist. Plants also absorb
carbon dioxide, a significant
greenhouse gas, through
photosynthesis. A good understanding of plants is crucial to the future of human societies as it allows us to:
* Feed the world
* Understand fundamental life processes
* Utilise medicine and materials
* Understand environmental changes
Feed the world
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Nearly all the food we eat comes (directly and indirectly) from plants like this American long grain rice. |
Virtually
all of the food we eat comes from plants, either directly from
staple foods and other
fruit and
vegetables, or indirectly through
livestock, which rely on plants for
fodder. In other words, plants are at the base of nearly all
food chains, or what ecologists call the first
trophic level. Understanding how plants produce the food we eat is therefore important to be able to
feed the world and provide
food security for future generations, for example through
plant breeding. Not all plants are beneficial to humans, some
weeds are a considerable problem in
agriculture and botany provides some of the basic science in order to understand how to minimise their impact. However, other weeds are pioneer plants which start an abused environment back on the road to rehabilitation, underlining that the term 'weed' is a very relative concept, and that broadly defined a weed is simply a plant which is too successful.
Ethnobotany is the study of this and other relationships between plants and people.
 |
Gregor Mendel laid the foundations of genetics from his studies of plants. |
Understand fundamental life processes
Plants are convenient organisms in which fundamental life processes (like
cell division and
protein synthesis for example) can be studied, without the ethical dilemmas of studying animals or humans. The
genetic laws of inheritance were discovered in this way by
Gregor Mendel, who was studying the way
pea shape is inherited. What Mendel learnt from studying plants has had far reaching benefits outside of botany. Additionally,
Barbara McClintock discovered '
jumping genes' by studying
maize. These are a few examples that demonstrate how botanical research has an ongoing relevance to the understanding of fundamental biological processes.
Utilise medicine and materials
Many of our
medicinal and
recreational drugs, like
cannabis,
caffeine, and
nicotine come directly from the plant kingdom.
Aspirin, which originally came from the
bark of
willow trees, is just one example. There may be many
novel cures for diseases provided by plants, waiting to be discovered. Popular
stimulants like
coffee,
chocolate,
tobacco, and
tea also come from plants. Most
alcoholic beverages come from
fermenting plants such as
barley malt and
grapes.
Plants also provide us with many natural materials, such as
cotton,
wood,
paper,
linen,
vegetable oils, some types of
rope, and
rubber. The production of
silk would not be possible without the cultivation of the
mulberry plant.
Sugarcane and other plants have recently been put to use as sources of
biofuels, which are important alternatives to
fossil fuels.
Understand environmental changes
Plants can also help us understand changes in on our environment in many ways.
*Understanding
habitat destruction and
species extinction is dependent on an accurate and complete catalogue of plant
systematics and
taxonomy.
*Plant responses to
ultraviolet radiation can help us monitor problems like the
ozone depletion.
*
Analysing pollen deposited by plants
thousands or millions of years ago can help scientists to reconstruct past climates and predict future ones, an essential part of
climate change research.
*Recording and analysing the timing of plant
life cycles are important parts of
phenology used in climate-change research.
*
Lichens, which are sensitive to atmospheric conditions, have been extenisvely used as
pollution indicators.
In many different ways, plants can act a bit like the '
miners canary', an
early warning system alerting us to important changes in our environment. In addition to these practical and scientific reasons, plants are extremely valuable as recreation for millions of people who enjoy
gardening,
horticultural and
culinary uses of plants every day.
Early botany (before 1945)
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The traditional tools of a botanist. |
Among the earliest of botanical works, written around
300 B.C., are two large treatises by
Theophrastus:
On the History of Plants (
Historia Plantarum) and
On the Causes of Plants. Together these books constitute the most important contribution to botanical science during antiquity and on into the Middle Ages. The Roman medical writer
Dioscorides provides important evidence on Greek and Roman knowledge of medicinal plants.
In 1665, using an early microscope,
Robert Hooke discovered
cells in
cork, a short time later in living plant tissue. The German
Leonhart Fuchs, the Swiss
Conrad von Gesner, and the British authors
Nicholas Culpeper and
John Gerard published herbals that gave information on the medicinal uses of plants.
Modern botany (since 1945)
A considerable amount of new knowledge today is being generated from studying
model plants like
Arabidopsis thaliana. This mustard weed was one of the first plants to have its
genome sequenced. The sequencing of the rice genome and a large international research community have made
rice the de facto
cereal/
grass/
monocot model. Another grass species,
Brachypodium distachyon is also emerging as an experimental model for understanding the genetic, cellular and molecular biology of temperate grasses. Other commercially important staple foods like
wheat,
maize,
barley,
rye,
millet and
soybean are also having their genomes sequenced. Some of these are challenging to sequence because they have more than two
haploid (n) sets of
chromosomes, a condition known as
polyploidy, common in the plant kingdom. The "Green Yeast"
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (a single-celled, green
alga) is another plant model organism that has been extensively studied and provided important insights into cell biology.
* U.S. Geological Survey.
National Biological Information Infrastructure: Botany*
Bellamy, D Bellamy on Botany, ISBN 0563106662 an accessible and short introduction to various botanical subjects
* Capon, B:
Botany for Gardeners ISBN 0881926558
* Cohen, J.
How many people can the earth support? W.W. Norton 1995 ISBN 0393314952
* Halle, Francis.
In praise of plants ISBN 0881925500. English translation of a poetic advocacy of plants.
* King, J.
Reaching for the sun: How plants work ISBN 0521587387. A fluent introduction to how plants work.
*
Pakenham, T:
Remarkable Trees of the World (
2002) ISBN 0297843001
* Pakenham, T:
Meetings with Remarkable Trees (
1996) ISBN 0297832557
* Pollan, M
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-eye View of the World Bloomsbury ISBN 0747563004 Account of the
co-evolution of plants and humans
* Thomas, B.A.:
The evolution of plants and flowers St Martin's Press
1981 ISBN 0312272715
* Walker, D.
Energy, Plants and Man ISBN 1870232054 A presentation of the basic concepts of photosynthesis
Academic and Scientific books on Botany
* Buchanan, B.B., Gruissem, W & Jones, R.L. (2000)
Biochemistry & molecular biology of plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists ISBN 0943088399
* Crawford, R. M. M. (1989).
Studies in plant survival. Blackwell. ISBN 063201475X
* Crawley, M. J. (1997).
Plant ecology. Blackwell Scientific. ISBN 0632036397
* Ennos, R and Sheffield, E
Plant life, Blackwell Science, ISBN 0865427372 Introduction to plant
biodiversity* Fitter, A & Hay, R
Environmental physiology of plants 3rd edition Sept 2001 Harcourt Publishers, Academic Press ISBN 0122577663
* Lambers, H., Chapin, F.S. III and Pons, T.L. 1998. Plant Physiological Ecology. Springer-Verlag, New York. ISBN 0387983260
* Lawlor, D.W. (2000)
Photosynthesis BIOS ISBN 1859961576
* Matthews, R. E. F.
Fundamentals of plant virology Academic Press,1992.
* Mauseth, J.D.:
Botany : an introduction to plant biology. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, ISBN 0763721344 - A first year undergraduate level textbook
* Raven, P.H, Evert R.H and Eichhorn, S.E:
Biology of Plants, Freeman. ISBN 1572590416 - A first year undergraduate level textbook
* Richards, P. W. (1996).
The tropical rainforest. 2nd ed. C.U.P. (Pbk) ISBN 0521421942 £32.50
* Ridge, I. (2002)
Plants Oxford University Press ISBN 0199255482
* Salisbury, FB and Ross, CW:
Plant physiology Wadsworth publishing company ISBN 0534151620
* Stace, C. A.
A new flora of the British Isles. 2nd ed. C.U.P.,1997. ISBN 0521589355
* Strange, R. L.
Introduction to plant pathology. Wiley-VCH, 2003. ISBN 0470849738
* Taiz, L. & Zeiger, E. (1998).
Plant physiology. 3rd ed. August 2002 Sinauer Associates. ISBN 0878938230
* Walter, H. (1985).
Vegetation of the earth. 3rd rev. ed. Springer.
* Willis, K (2002)
The evolution of plants Oxford University Press ISBN 0198500653 £22-99
*
plant growth and
the plant cell from
Kimball's Biology Pages*
Botany Research News from ScienceDaily
*
Biology News Headlines,
*
Botanical Society of America: What is Botany?*
Science and Plants for Schools*
Teaching Documents about Botany Teaching documents, lecture notes and tutorials online: an annotated link directory.
*
American society of plant biologists APSB*
Why study Plants? Dept of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge*
Botany Photo of the Day*
David Attenborough -
The Private Life of PlantsFlora and other plant catalogues or databases
*
The Virtual Library of Botany*
List of major natural Plant Species in the UK, described in the National Vegetation Classification*
High quality pictures of plants and information about them from Catholic University of Leuven
*
Curtis's Botanical Magazine, 1790-1856
*
The Trees Of Great Britain and Ireland, by Henry John Elwes & Augustine Henry, 1906-1913
*
Botanik-Datenbank (ger.)
