what the hell is Botany?

Answer 1

the study of flowers

Answer 2

Botany is the scientific study of plants

Answer 3

Botany is the study of plants. (not just flowers)

Answer 4

Botany is a word that covers all plant behaviour and advice
on dealing with with plants. It covers complete knowledge
on the subject.

Answer 5

botany - the branch of biology that studies plants

Answer 6

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:

a) Feed the world
b) Understand fundamental life processes
c) Utilise medicine and materials
d) Understand environmental changes

HISTORY

Early botany (before 1945)

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.

Answer 7

Babylon English-Hebrew

botany
(ש"ע) בוטניקה, תורת הצומח





Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

botany

Branch of biology that deals with plants, including the study of the structure, properties, and biochemical processes of all forms of plant life, as well as plant classification, plant diseases, and the interactions of plants with their physical environment.

The science of botany traces back to the ancient Greco-Roman world but received its modern impetus in Europe in the 16th century, mainly through the work of physicians and herbalists, who began to observe plants seriously to identify those useful in medicine. Today the principal branches of botanical study are morphology, physiology, ecology, and systematics (the identification and ranking of all plants). Subdisciplines include bryology (the study of mosses and liverworts), pteridology (the study of ferns and their relatives), paleobotany (the study of fossil plants), and palynology (the study of modern and fossil pollen and spores). See also forestry, horticulture.

x
Botany Bay

Inlet of the South Pacific Ocean, southeastern Australia.

Lying south of Sydney off Port Jackson, it is about 6 mi (10 km) at its widest. It was the scene of the first Australian landing by Capt. James Cook in 1770; he named the bay for its great variety of plants. It was selected in 1787 as the site for a penal settlement, but the settlement was soon transferred inland. Its shores are now ringed by Sydney's suburbs.



© 2005 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.



Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Botany
(also Botany wool)
■ noun merino wool.


C19: named after Botany Bay in Australia, from where the wool orig. came.

x
botany
■ noun the scientific study of the structure, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic importance of plants. ▶the plant life of a particular region or geological period.


botanic adjective
botanist noun


C17: from earlier botanic (from Fr. botanique, based on Gk botanikos, from botanē 'plant') + -y3.



© Oxford University Press, 2004



Merriam-Webster Collegiate® Dictionary

bot·a·ny
Pronunciation: 'bä-tə-nē, 'bät-nē
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -nies
Etymology: botanic botanical + 2-y
Date: 1696

1 : a branch of biology dealing with plant life
2 a : plant life b : the properties and life phenomena exhibited by a plant, plant type, or plant group
3 : a botanical treatise or study especially : a particular system of botany
–bot·a·nist \-nist\ noun

x
Bot·a·ny Bay
Pronunciation: 'bä-tə-nē
Function: geographical name

inlet of the S. Pacific SE Australia in New South Wales on S border of city of Sydney



© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated


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Answer 8

The study of plants.

Answer 9

It is the scientific study of plants

Answer 10

The study of plants (plantlife)