Botany is the scientific study of plants: their structure, function, growth, reproduction, classification, distribution and interactions with other organisms. Its roots reach antiquity. Theophrastus, a student and successor of Aristotle at the Lyceum in Athens, wrote Historia Plantarum in the late fourth century BCE, describing and classifying more than five hundred plant species by observable traits, work that earned him the traditional title father of botany. The field remained largely descriptive until the English naturalist John Ray produced a rigorous three-volume classification, Historia Plantarum (1686 to 1704), and the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus established the framework still used today. Linnaeus's Species Plantarum (1753) introduced consistent binomial nomenclature for plants and remains the official starting point for plant scientific names. Botany today spans molecular genetics, ecology, systematics, physiology and paleobotany, anchored institutionally by botanic gardens, herbaria and professional societies founded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to formalize the field the way Linnaeus's system formalized its nomenclature.
Facts
Central QuestionHow are the roughly four hundred thousand known species of land plant related by descent, and what physiological adaptations let plant life colonize nearly every terrestrial and freshwater habitat on Earth? 1 ScopeBotany is the science of plant life, studying the structure, growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases and evolutionary relationships of plants and plant-like organisms. 1 SignificanceTheophrastus, a student of Aristotle, wrote Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants around 300 BC, works that survived through the medieval period and earned him recognition, alongside Dioscorides, as a father of botany in the Western scientific tradition. 1 Disputed
Founded YearBotany has no single founding date. Theophrastus is traditionally called the father of botany for Historia Plantarum in the late fourth century BCE, the first systematic descriptive treatment of plants; John Ray produced a rigorous classification in 1686 to 1704; and Linnaeus's Species Plantarum (1753) is recorded here as the field's modern scientific founding because it is the official starting point for plant nomenclature still used today. Connections
Associated With
The Botanical Society of America, founded 1893, is the fields principal professional society in the United States.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, founded 1759, is a major botanical research institution.
Founded By
Source Carl Linnaeus (Uppsala University)
Source John Ray (Encyclopedia.com)Charles E. Raven
Source Botany (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist
Source Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart, Wikipedia
Source Adolphus Ypey (Wikipedia)
Source Albert Seward, Wikipedia
Source Charles Alexander Johns (Wikipedia)
Source Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, Wikipedia
Source Dukinfield Henry Scott, Wikipedia
Source Carl Friedrich Schmidt (geologist), Wikipedia
Source Harold Basil Christian (Wikipedia)
Source Hugh Falconer, Wikipedia
Source Indumadhab Mallick (Wikipedia)
Source Janaki Ammal (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Joanne Chory
Source Konstantin Mereschkowski (Wikipedia)
Source Matthias Jakob Schleiden (Wikipedia)
Source Nikolai Vavilov (Wikipedia)
Source Param Nath Bhaduri (Wikipedia)
Source Pier Antonio Micheli (Wikipedia)
Source Shen Kuo (Wikipedia)
Source William Crawford Williamson - Wikipedia
Source William Jackson Hooker (Wikipedia)
Source Wladimir Koppen (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Botany (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology that studies the growth, reproduction and evolution of plants over the last 3.5 billion years of life on earth.
- Founded By: Theophrastus
In Group: Biology and Natural History, Lead
is the branch of natural science and biology that studies the growth, reproduction and evolution of plants over the last 3
View the Source 2. Carl Linnaeus (Uppsala University)
Uppsala UniversityLead section
In 1735 he published Systema Naturae, an inventory of the three kingdoms of nature: minerals, animals, plants.
- Founded By: Carl Linnaeus
View the Source Botany (Britannica)
Theophrastus (New World Encyclopedia)
New World Encyclopedia, 2023Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
Theophrastus also continued Aristotle's research into natural history, conducting numerous experiments and developing systems for classifying plants and animals that were later adapted by medieval scientists. He is sometimes called the "Father of Botany," or the "Father of Taxonomy."
View the Source John Ray (Encyclopedia.com)
Charles E. Raven, Encyclopedia.com, 1942Founded By: John RayView the Source Carl Friedrich Schmidt (geologist), Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Friedrich Schmidt, LeadQuote, Has Scientist: Friedrich Schmidt, Lead
was a Baltic German geologist and botanist
View the Source Param Nath Bhaduri (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Param Nath Bhaduri, LeadQuote, Has Scientist: Param Nath Bhaduri, Lead
he completed his Master of Science (M.Sc) in Botany from the University of Calcutta in 1931
View the Source Pier Antonio Micheli (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Pier Antonio Micheli, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Pier Antonio Micheli, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Botany; Mycology
View the Source Wikipedia: Joanne Chory
Has Scientist: Joanne Chory, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Joanne Chory, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Plant Biology
View the Source Konstantin Mereschkowski (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Konstantin Mereschkowski, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Konstantin Mereschkowski, Lead sentence
Konstantin Sergeevich Mereschkowski (;, 9 January 1921) was a Russian biologist and botanist, active mainly around Kazan, whose research on lichens led him to propose the theory of symbiogenesis, that larger, more complex cells (of eukaryotes) evolved from the symbiotic relationship between less
View the Source Nikolai Vavilov (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Nikolai Vavilov, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Nikolai Vavilov, Lead sentence
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov (;, 26 January 1943) was a Russian and Soviet agronomist, botanist and geneticist who identified the centers of origin of cultivated plants.
View the Source Matthias Jakob Schleiden (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Matthias Schleiden, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Matthias Schleiden, Lead sentence
Matthias Jakob Schleiden (; 5 April 1804-23 June 1881) was a German botanist and co-founder of cell theory, along with Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow.
View the Source Hugh Falconer, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Hugh Falconer, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Hugh Falconer, Lead sentence
Hugh Falconer (29 February 1808-31 January 1865) was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist.
View the Source Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, Lead sentence
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795-27 June 1876) was a German naturalist, zoologist, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist.
View the Source Dukinfield Henry Scott, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Dukinfield Henry Scott, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Dukinfield Henry Scott, Lead sentence
Dukinfield Henry Scott FRS HFRSE LLD (28 November 1854-29 January 1934) was a British botanist and paleobotanist.
View the Source Albert Seward, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Albert Seward, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Albert Seward, Lead sentence
Sir Albert Charles Seward FRS (9 October 1863-11 April 1941) was a British botanist and geologist.
View the Source William Jackson Hooker (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: William Jackson Hooker, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: William Jackson Hooker, Lead sentence
William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden.
View the Source Indumadhab Mallick (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Indumadhab Mallick, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Indumadhab Mallick, Lead sentence
Indumadhab Mallick (; 4 December 18698 May 1917) was a Bengali polymath philosopher, physicist, botanist, lawyer, physician, entrepreneur, collector, traveler, writer and social reformer.
View the Source Charles Alexander Johns (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Charles Alexander Johns, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Charles Alexander Johns, Lead sentence
Charles Alexander Johns (1811-1874) was a 19th-century British botanist and educator who was the author of a long series of popular books on natural history.
View the Source Harold Basil Christian (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Harold Basil Christian, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Harold Basil Christian, Lead sentence
Harold Basil Christian (28 October 1871-12 May 1950) was a Cape Colony-born Rhodesian farmer, horticulturist, and botanist.
View the Source Adolphus Ypey (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Adolphus Ypey, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Adolphus Ypey, Lead sentence
Adolphus Ypey (4 June 1749-27 February 1822), also spelled Adolphus Ypeus or Adolf Ypey, was a Dutch botanist and Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine who graduated at the University of Franeker and stayed on to lecture in botany.
View the Source Janaki Ammal (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Janaki Ammal, LeadQuote, Has Scientist: Janaki Ammal, Lead
was an Indian botanist
View the Source Wladimir Koppen (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Wladimir Koppen, LeadQuote, Has Scientist: Wladimir Koppen, Lead
was a Russian-German geographer, meteorologist, climatologist and botanist
View the Source Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart, LeadQuote, Has Scientist: Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart, Lead
was a French botanist
View the Source William Crawford Williamson - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: William Crawford Williamson, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Scientist: William Crawford Williamson, Lead, sentence 1
William Crawford Williamson (24 November 1816-23 June 1895) was an English naturalist and palaeobotanist.
View the Source Shen Kuo (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Shen Kuo, Infobox: fieldQuote, Has Scientist: Shen Kuo, Infobox: field
Agronomy, Astronomy, Archaeology, Anatomy, Antiquarianism, Mathematics, Pharmacology, Medical science, Entomology, Mineralogy, Music, Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Optical engineering, Soil science, Encyclopedism, Geomagnetics, Optics, Hydraulics, Hydraulic engineering, Mechanical engineering, Metallurgy, Metaphysics, Meteorology, Climatology, Cartography, Botany, Zoology, Economics, Finance, Military strategy, Ethnography, Divination, Art criticism, Philosophy, Poetry, Politics, Public Administration
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.