Introduction to Botany

Botany: The branch of biology that deals with the study of plants, including their structure, properties, and biochemical processes, as well as plant classification, diseases, and interactions with the environment.

Plant Taxonomy: The science of classifying and naming plants, a branch of systematics, which is the science of determining how different biological organisms are related to each other.

LEVEL OF CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: A taxonomic category of the highest rank where organisms are grouped based on fundamental characteristics, such as animals, plants, and fungi.

Phylum: A taxonomic level below kingdom and above class; it includes groups like Bryophyta (mosses and liverworts) and Angiosperms.

Class: A taxonomic rank below phylum and above order, where organisms share more characteristics with each other.

Order: The rank below class and above family in taxonomy, where members of an order have more in common with each other than with those in the same class.

Family: A taxonomic rank where plants are grouped based on many common characteristics, with family names typically ending in “-ceae”.

Genus: The first part of a plant’s binomial scientific name always capitalized and in italics.

Species: A group of individuals that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Subspecies and variants reflect variation within a species.

Scientific Method: A systematic approach to research, emphasizing skepticism, reliance on observable phenomena, constancy, and universality.

DIVERSIFICATION PLANT STUDY

Plant Anatomy: The study of the internal structure of plants.

Plant Physiology: The study of plant functions, including material conduction, growth, flowering, and the production of growth-regulatory substances.

Plant Geography: The study of the distribution of plants and the reasons behind their locations.

Plant Ecology: The study of the interactions between plants and their environment, including other plants.

Plant Morphology: The study of the form and structure of plants.

Genetics: The scientific study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics in plants.

Cell Biology: The study of cell structure and function, including cell division and sexual reproduction.

Economic Botany and Ethnobotany: The study of the practical uses of plants and plant products, including food, fiber, medicines, and other human uses.

Thallophyta: Plants with primitive, simple body structures, including algae.

Bryophyta: Non-vascular plants with root-like, stem-like, and leaf-like structures, known as the “amphibians of the plant kingdom”.

Pteridophyta: Vascular plants with differentiated roots, stems, and leaves, reproducing via spores.

Gymnosperms: Seed-bearing plants with naked seeds not enclosed within fruits.

Angiosperms: Seed-bearing vascular plants with seeds enclosed within fruits, divided into monocots and dicots.