Botany: Difference between revisions

Botany originated as [[history of herbalism#Prehistory|prehistoric herbalism]] to identify and later cultivate plants that were edible, poisonous, and medicinal, making it one of the first endeavours of human investigation.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} Medieval [[physic garden]]s, often attached to [[Monastery|monasteries]], contained plants possibly having medicinal benefit. They were forerunners of the first [[botanical garden]]s attached to [[University|universities]], founded from the 1540s onwards. One of the earliest was the [[Orto botanico di Padova|Padua botanical garden]]. These gardens facilitated the academic study of plants. Efforts to catalogue and describe their collections were the beginnings of [[plant taxonomy]] and led in 1753 to the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial system of nomenclature]] of [[Carl Linnaeus]] that remains in use to this day for the naming of all biological species.

The term "botany" comes from the [[Ancient Greek]] word ''{{Lang|grc-latn|botanē}}'' ({{lang|grc|βοτάνη}}) meaning "[[pasture]]", "[[herb]]s" "[[Poaceae|grass]]", or "[[fodder]]";<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lsj.gr/wiki/βοτάνη |title=βοτάνη - LSJ |website=LSJ |publisher=Internet Archive |date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127081418/https://lsj.gr/wiki/βοτάνη |access-date=19 September 2024|archive-date=27 January 2021 }}</ref> ''{{Lang|grc-latn|Botanē}}'' is in turn derived from ''{{Transliteration|grc|boskein}}'' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|βόσκειν}}), "to feed" or "to [[Grazing|graze]]".{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940}}{{sfn|Gordh|Headrick|2001|p = 134}}{{sfn|Online Etymology Dictionary|2012}} Traditionally, botany has also included the study of [[fungi]] and [[algae]] by [[mycologists]] and [[phycologists]] respectively, with the study of these three groups of organisms remaining within the sphere of interest of the [[International Botanical Congress]].

Another work from Ancient Greece that made an early impact on botany is {{Lang|la|[[De materia medica]]}}, a five-volume encyclopedia about [[Herbalism|preliminary herbal medicine]] written in the middle of the first century by Greek physician and pharmacologist [[Pedanius Dioscorides]]. {{Lang|la|De materia medica}} was widely read for more than 1,500 years.{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|p = 532}} Important contributions from the [[Islamic Golden Age|medieval Muslim world]] include [[Ibn Wahshiyya]]'s ''[[Nabatean Agriculture]]'', [[Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarī]]'s (828–896) the ''Book of Plants'', and [[Ibn Bassal]]'s ''The Classification of Soils''. In the early 13th century, [[Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati]], and [[Ibn al-Baitar]] (d. 1248) wrote on botany in a systematic and scientific manner.{{sfn|Dallal|2010|p = 197}}{{sfn|Panaino|2002|p = 93}}{{sfn|Levey|1973|p = 116}}

In the mid-16th century, [[botanical garden]]s were founded in a number of Italian universities. The [[Orto botanico di Padova|Padua botanical garden]] in 1545 is usually considered to be the first which is still in its original location. These gardens continued the practical value of earlier "physic gardens", often associated with monasteries, in which plants were cultivated for suspected medicinal uses. They supported the growth of botany as an academic subject. Lectures were given about the plants grown in the gardens. Botanical gardens came much later to northern Europe; the first in England was the [[University of Oxford Botanic Garden]] in 1621.{{sfn|Hill|1915}}

During the 18th century, systems of [[plant identification]] were developed comparable to [[single access key|dichotomous keys]], where unidentified plants are placed into [[taxon]]omic groups (e.g. family, genus and species) by making a series of choices between pairs of [[Character (biology)|characters]]. The choice and sequence of the characters may be artificial in keys designed purely for identification ([[single access key#Diagnostic ('artificial') versus synoptic ('natural') keys|diagnostic keys]]) or more closely related to the natural or [[taxonomic order|phyletic order]] of the [[taxon|taxa]] in synoptic keys.{{sfn|Scharf|2009|pp = 73–117}} By the 18th century, new plants for study were arriving in Europe in increasing numbers from newly discovered countries and the European colonies worldwide. In 1753, [[Carl Linnaeus]] published his [[Species Plantarum]], a hierarchical classification of plant species that remains the reference point for [[International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants|modern botanical nomenclature]]. This established a standardised binomial or two-part naming scheme where the first name represented the [[genus]] and the second identified the [[species]] within the genus.{{sfn|Capon|2005|pp = 220–223}} For the purposes of identification, Linnaeus's ''Systema Sexuale'' [[Linnaean taxonomy#Classification of plants|classified]] plants into 24 groups according to the number of their male sexual organs. The 24th group, ''Cryptogamia'', included all plants with concealed reproductive parts, [[moss]]es, [[liverwort]]s, [[fern]]s, [[algae]] and [[Fungus|fungi]].{{sfn|Hoek|Mann|Jahns|2005|p = 9}}

In the 19th century botany was a socially acceptable hobby for upper-class women. These women would collect and paint flowers and plants from around the world with scientific accuracy. The paintings were used to record many species that could not be transported or maintained in other environments. [[Marianne North]] illustrated over 900 species in extreme detail with watercolor and oil paintings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Ailsa |date=2015-04-22 |title=The Victorian Gentlewoman Who Documented 900 Plant Species |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/marianne-north-early-female-explorer |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref> Her work and many other women's botany work was the beginning of popularizing botany to a wider audience.

Particularly since the mid-1960s there have been advances in understanding of the physics of [[Plant physiology|plant physiological]] processes such as [[transpiration]] (the transport of water within plant tissues), the temperature dependence of rates of water [[evaporation]] from the leaf surface and the [[molecular diffusion]] of water vapour and carbon dioxide through [[stomatal]] apertures. These developments, coupled with new methods for measuring the size of stomatal apertures, and the rate of [[photosynthesis]] have enabled precise description of the rates of [[gas exchange]] between plants and the atmosphere.{{sfn|Jasechko|Sharp|Gibson|Birks|2013|pp = 347–350}}{{sfn|Nobel|1983|p = 608}} Innovations in [[Statistics|statistical analysis]] by [[Ronald Fisher]],{{sfn|Yates|Mather|1963|pp = 91–129}} [[Frank Yates]] and others at [[Rothamsted Research#Statistical science|Rothamsted Experimental Station]] facilitated rational experimental design and data analysis in botanical research.{{sfn|Finney|1995|pp = 554–573}} The discovery and identification of the [[auxin]] plant hormones by [[Kenneth V. Thimann]] in 1948 enabled regulation of plant growth by externally applied chemicals. [[Frederick Campion Steward]] pioneered techniques of [[micropropagation]] and [[plant tissue culture]] controlled by [[Plant physiology#Plant hormones|plant hormones]].{{sfn|Cocking|1993}} The synthetic auxin [[2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid|2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid]] or 2,4-D was one of the first commercial synthetic [[herbicide]]s.{{sfn|Cousens|Mortimer|1995}}

20th century developments in plant biochemistry have been driven by modern techniques of [[organic chemistry|organic chemical analysis]], such as [[spectroscopy]], [[chromatography]] and [[electrophoresis]]. With the rise of the related molecular-scale biological approaches of [[molecular biology]], [[genomics]], [[proteomics]] and [[metabolomics]], the relationship between the plant [[genome]] and most aspects of the biochemistry, physiology, morphology and behaviour of plants can be subjected to detailed experimental analysis.{{sfn|Ehrhardt|Frommer|2012|pp = 1–21}} The concept originally stated by [[Gottlieb Haberlandt]] in 1902{{sfn|Haberlandt|1902|pages=69–92}} that all plant cells are [[Cell potency#Totipotency|totipotent]] and can be grown ''in vitro'' ultimately enabled the use of [[genetic engineering]] experimentally to knock out a gene or genes responsible for a specific trait, or to add genes such as [[Green fluorescent protein|GFP]] that [[reporter gene|report]] when a gene of interest is being expressed. These technologies enable the biotechnological use of whole plants or plant cell cultures grown in [[bioreactors]] to synthesise [[Bt corn|pesticides]], [[Biopharmaceutics|antibiotics]] or other [[pharming (genetics)|pharmaceuticals]], as well as the practical application of [[genetically modified crops]] designed for traits such as improved yield.{{sfn|Leonelli|Charnley|Webb|Bastow|2012}}

Modern morphology recognises a continuum between the major morphological categories of root, stem (caulome), leaf (phyllome) and [[trichome]].{{sfn|Sattler|Jeune|1992|pp = 249–262}} Furthermore, it emphasises structural dynamics.{{sfn|Sattler|1992|pp = 708–714}} Modern systematics aims to reflect and discover [[Phylogenetic nomenclature|phylogenetic relationships]] between plants.{{sfn|Ereshefsky|1997|pp = 493–519}}{{sfn|Gray|Sargent|1889|pp = 292–293}}{{sfn|Medbury|1993|pp = 14–16}}{{sfn|Judd|Campbell|Kellogg|Stevens|2002|pp = 347–350}} Modern [[molecular phylogenetics]] largely ignores morphological characters, relying on DNA sequences as data. Molecular analysis of [[nucleic acid sequence|DNA sequences]] from most families of flowering plants enabled the [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]] to publish in 1998 a [[phylogenetics|phylogeny]] of flowering plants, answering many of the questions about relationships among [[angiosperm]] families and species.{{sfn|Burger|2013}} The theoretical possibility of a practical method for identification of plant species and commercial varieties by [[DNA barcoding]] is the subject of active current research.{{sfn|Kress|Wurdack|Zimmer|Weigt|2005|pp = 8369–8374}}{{sfn|Janzen|Forrest|Spouge|Hajibabaei|2009|pp = 12794–12797}}

== Branches of botany ==

{{Main|Branches of botany}}

Botany is divided along several axes.

The strictest definition of "plant" includes only the "land plants" or [[embryophytes]], which include [[seed plants]] (gymnosperms, including the [[Pinophyta|pines]], and [[flowering plant]]s) and the free-sporing [[cryptogams]] including [[fern]]s, [[Lycopodiopsida|clubmosses]], [[Marchantiophyta|liverworts]], [[hornwort]]s and [[moss]]es. Embryophytes are multicellular [[eukaryote]]s descended from an ancestor that obtained its energy from sunlight by [[photosynthesis]]. They have life cycles with [[alternation of generations|alternating]] haploid and [[diploid]] phases. The sexual [[haploid]] phase of embryophytes, known as the [[gametophyte]], nurtures the developing diploid embryo [[sporophyte]] within its tissues for at least part of its life,{{sfn|Campbell|Reece|Urry|Cain|2008|p = 602}} even in the seed plants, where the gametophyte itself is nurtured by its parent sporophyte.{{sfn|Campbell|Reece|Urry|Cain|2008|pp = 619–620}} Other groups of organisms that were previously studied by botanists include bacteria (now studied in [[bacteriology]]), fungi ([[mycology]]) – including [[lichen]]-forming fungi ([[lichenology]]), non-[[Chlorophyta|chlorophyte]] [[algae]] ([[phycology]]), and viruses ([[virology]]). However, attention is still given to these groups by botanists, and fungi (including lichens) and photosynthetic [[protist]]s are usually covered in introductory botany courses.{{sfn|Capon|2005|pp = 10–11}}{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|pp = 1–3}}

Botanists study how plants produce food and how to increase yields, for example through [[plant breeding]], making their work important to humanity's ability to feed the world and provide [[food security]] for future generations.{{sfn|Floros|Newsome|Fisher|2010}} Botanists also study weeds, which are a considerable problem in agriculture, and the biology and control of [[Plant pathology|plant pathogens]] in agriculture and natural [[ecosystems]].{{sfn|Schoening|2005}} [[Ethnobotany]] is the study of the relationships between plants and people. When applied to the investigation of historical plant–people relationships ethnobotany may be referred to as archaeobotany or [[paleoethnobotany|palaeoethnobotany]].{{sfn|Acharya|Anshu|2008|p = 440}} Some of the earliest plant-people relationships arose between the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous people]] of Canada in identifying edible plants from inedible plants. This relationship the indigenous people had with plants was recorded by ethnobotanists.{{sfn|Kuhnlein|Turner|1991}}

[[File:Medicago italica root nodules 2.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Colour photograph of roots of Medicago italica, showing root nodules|The [[root nodule|nodules]] of ''[[Medicago italica]]'' contain the [[nitrogen fixation|nitrogen fixing]] bacterium ''[[Sinorhizobium meliloti]]''. The plant provides the bacteria with nutrients and an [[hypoxia (environmental)|anaerobic]] environment, and the bacteria [[nitrogen fixation|fix nitrogen]] for the plant.{{sfn|Campbell|Reece|Urry|Cain|2008|p=794}}]]

[[Herbivore]]s eat plants, but plants can [[plant defence against herbivory|defend themselves]] and some species are [[parasitic plant|parasitic]] or even [[carnivorous plant|carnivorous]]. Other organisms form [[mutualism (biology)|mutually]] beneficial relationships with plants. For example, [[mycorrhiza]]l fungi and [[rhizobia]] provide plants with nutrients in exchange for food, [[ant]]s are recruited by [[myrmecophyte|ant plants]] to provide protection,{{sfn|Herrera|Pellmyr|2002|pp = 211–235}} [[honey bee]]s, [[bat]]s and other animals [[pollinate]] flowers{{sfn|Proctor|Yeo|1973|p = 479}}{{sfn|Herrera|Pellmyr|2002|pp = 157–185}} and [[seed dispersal#Humans|humans]] and [[seed dispersal#Dispersal by animals|other animals]]{{sfn|Herrera|Pellmyr|2002|pp = 185–210}} act as [[dispersal vector]]s to spread [[spore]]s and [[seed]]s.

Plant responses to climate and other environmental changes can inform our understanding of how these changes affect ecosystem function and productivity. For example, plant [[phenology]] can be a useful [[proxy (climate)|proxy]] for temperature in [[historical climatology]], and the biological [[effects of climate change|impact of climate change]] and [[global warming]]. [[Palynology]], the analysis of fossil pollen deposits in sediments from [[geologic timescale|thousands or millions of years ago]] allows the reconstruction of past climates.{{sfn|Bennett|Willis|2001|pp = 5–32}} Estimates of atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations since the [[Palaeozoic]] have been obtained from [[stomatal]] densities and the leaf shapes and sizes of ancient [[land plants]].{{sfn|Beerling|Osborne|Chaloner|2001|pp = 287–394}} [[Ozone depletion]] can expose plants to higher levels of [[Ultraviolet|ultraviolet radiation-B]] (UV-B), resulting in lower growth rates.{{sfn|Björn|Callaghan|Gehrke|Johanson|1999|pp = 449–454}} Moreover, information from studies of [[community (ecology)|community ecology]], plant [[systematics]], and [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] is essential to understanding [[climate change#Vegetation|vegetation change]], [[habitat destruction]] and [[endangered species|species extinction]].{{sfn|Ben-Menahem|2009|pp = 5369–5370}}

Charles Darwin in his 1878 book The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom<ref>Darwin, C. R. 1878. The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. London: John Murray". darwin-online.org.uk</ref> at the start of chapter XII noted "The first and most important of the conclusions which may be drawn from the observations given in this volume, is that generally cross-fertilisation is beneficial and self-fertilisation often injurious, at least with the plants on which I experimented." An important adaptive benefit of outcrossing is that it allows the masking of deleterious mutations in the genome of progeny. This beneficial effect is also known as hybrid vigor or heterosis. Once outcrossing is established, subsequent switching to inbreeding becomes disadvantageous since it allows expression of the previously masked deleterious recessive mutations, commonly referred to as inbreeding depression.

Unlike in higher animals, where [[parthenogenesis]] is rare, [[asexual reproduction]] may occur in plants by several different mechanisms. The formation of stem [[tuber]]s in potato is one example. Particularly in [[arctic]] or [[alpine climate|alpine]] habitats, where opportunities for fertilisation of flowers [[zoophily|by animals]] are rare, plantlets or [[bulbs]], may develop instead of flowers, replacing [[sexual reproduction]] with asexual reproduction and giving rise to [[cloning|clonal populations]] genetically identical to the parent. This is one of several types of [[apomixis]] that occur in plants. Apomixis can also happen in a [[seed]], producing a seed that contains an embryo genetically identical to the parent.{{sfn|Savidan|2000|pp = 13–86}}

[[Model organism#Plants|Model plants]] such as ''Arabidopsis thaliana'' are used for studying the molecular biology of [[plant cell]]s and the [[chloroplast]]. Ideally, these organisms have small genomes that are well known or completely sequenced, small stature and short generation times. Corn has been used to study mechanisms of [[photosynthesis]] and [[phloem]] loading of sugar in [[C4 plants|{{C4}} plants]].{{sfn|Russin|Evert|Vanderveer|Sharkey|1996|pp = 645–658}} The [[single celled]] [[green alga]] ''[[Chlamydomonas reinhardtii]]'', while not an [[embryophyte]] itself, contains a [[chlorophyll b|green-pigmented]] [[Chloroplast#Chloroplastida (green algae and plants)|chloroplast]] related to that of land plants, making it useful for study.{{sfn|Rochaix|Goldschmidt-Clermont|Merchant|1998|p = 550}} A [[red alga]] ''[[Cyanidioschyzon merolae]]'' has also been used to study some basic chloroplast functions.{{sfn|Glynn|Miyagishima|Yoder|Osteryoung|2007|pages = 451–461}} [[Spinach]],{{sfn|Possingham|Rose|1976|pp = 295–305}} [[peas]],{{sfn|Sun|Forouhar|Li Hm|Tu|2002|pp = 95–100}} [[soybeans]] and a moss ''[[Physcomitrella patens]]'' are commonly used to study plant cell biology.{{sfn|Heinhorst|Cannon|1993|pp = 1–9}}

Molecules are moved within plants by transport processes that operate at a variety of [[spatial scale]]s. Subcellular transport of ions, electrons and molecules such as water and [[enzyme]]s occurs across [[cell membrane]]s. Minerals and water are transported from roots to other parts of the plant in the [[transpiration stream]]. [[Diffusion]], [[osmosis]], and [[active transport]] and [[Mass flow (life sciences)|mass flow]] are all different ways transport can occur.{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|pp = 341–372}} Examples of [[plant nutrition|elements that plants need]] to transport are [[nitrogen]], [[phosphorus]], [[potassium]], [[calcium]], [[magnesium]], and [[sulfur]]. In vascular plants, these elements are extracted from the soil as soluble ions by the roots and transported throughout the plant in the xylem. Most of the elements required for [[plant nutrition]] come from the chemical breakdown of soil minerals.{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|pp = 373–398}} [[Sucrose]] produced by photosynthesis is transported from the leaves to other parts of the plant in the phloem and [[Plant physiology#Plant hormones|plant hormones]] are transported by a variety of processes.

The hypothesis that plant growth and development is coordinated by [[plant hormone]]s or plant growth regulators first emerged in the late 19th century. Darwin experimented on the movements of plant shoots and roots towards [[heliotropism|light]]{{sfn|Darwin|1880|pp = 449–492}} and [[geotropism|gravity]], and concluded "It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the radicle . . acts like the brain of one of the lower animals . . directing the several movements".{{sfn|Darwin|1880|p = 573}} About the same time, the role of [[auxin]]s (from the Greek {{transliteration|grc|auxein}}, to grow) in control of plant growth was first outlined by the Dutch scientist [[Frits Went]].{{sfn|Plant Hormones|2013}} The first known auxin, [[indole-3-acetic acid]] (IAA), which promotes cell growth, was only isolated from plants about 50 years later.{{sfn|Went|Thimann|1937|pp = 110–112}} This compound mediates the tropic responses of shoots and roots towards light and gravity.{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|pp = 411–412}} The finding in 1939 that plant [[callus (cell biology)|callus]] could be maintained in culture containing IAA, followed by the observation in 1947 that it could be induced to form roots and shoots by controlling the concentration of growth hormones were key steps in the development of plant biotechnology and genetic modification.{{sfn|Sussex|2008|pp = 1189–1198}}

Kingdom [[Plant]]ae belongs to [[Domain (biology)|Domain]] [[Eukaryota]] and is broken down recursively until each species is separately classified. The order is: [[Kingdom (biology)|Kingdom]]; [[Phylum]] (or Division); [[Class (biology)|Class]]; [[Order (biology)|Order]]; [[Family (biology)|Family]]; [[Genus]] (plural ''genera''); [[Species]]. The scientific name of a plant represents its genus and its species within the genus, resulting in a single worldwide name for each organism.{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|pp = 528–551}} For example, the tiger lily is ''[[Lilium columbianum]]''. ''Lilium'' is the genus, and ''columbianum'' the [[Botanical name#Binary name|specific epithet]]. The combination is the name of the species. When writing the scientific name of an organism, it is proper to capitalise the first letter in the genus and put all of the specific epithet in lowercase. Additionally, the entire term is ordinarily italicised (or underlined when italics are not available).{{sfn|Mauseth|2003|pp = 528–555}}{{sfn|International Association for Plant Taxonomy|2006}}{{sfn|Silyn-Roberts|2000|p = 198}}

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