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Branches of botany

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Branches of botany

Botany is a natural science concerned with the study of plants. The main branches of botany (also referred to as "plant science") are commonly divided into three groups: core topics, concerned with the study of the fundamental natural phenomena and processes of plant life, the classification and description of plant diversity; applied topics which study the ways in which plants may be used for economic benefit in horticulture, agriculture and forestry; and organismic topics which focus on plant groups such as algae, mosses or flowering plants.

Contents

Core topics

  • Cytology – cell structure, chromosome number
  • Epigenetics – Control of gene expression
  • Paleobotany – Study of fossil plants and plant evolution
  • Palynology – Pollen and spores
  • Plant biochemistry – Chemical processes of primary and secondary metabolism
  • Phenology – timing of germination, flowering and fruiting
  • Phytochemistry – Plant secondary chemistry and chemical processes
  • Phytogeography – Plant Biogeography, the study of plant distributions
  • Phytosociology – Plant communities and interactions
  • Plant anatomy – Structure of plant cells and tissues
  • Plant ecology – Role and function of plants in the environment
  • Plant evolutionary developmental biology – Plant development from an evolutionary perspective
  • Plant genetics – Genetic inheritance in plants
  • Plant morphology – Structure of plants
  • Plant physiology – Life functions of plants
  • Plant reproduction – Processes of plant reproduction
  • Plant systematics – Classification and naming of plants
  • Plant taxonomy – Classification and naming of plants

    • Applied topics

  • Agronomy – Application of plant science to crop production
  • Arboriculture – Culture and propagation of trees
  • Biotechnology – Use of plants to synthesize products
  • Dendrology – Study of woody plants, shrubs, trees and lianas
  • Economic botany – Study of plants of economic use or value
  • Ethnobotany – Plants and people. Use and selection of plants by humans
  • Forestry – Forest management and related studies
  • Horticulture – cultivation of garden plants
  • Marine botany – Study of aquatic plants and algae that live in seawater
  • Micropropagation – rapid propagation of plants using cell and tissue culture
  • Pharming (genetics) – Genetic engineering of plants to produce pharmaceuticals
  • Plant breeding – Breeding of plants with desirable genetic characters
  • Plant pathology (Phytopathology) – Plant diseases
  • Plant propagation – propagation of plants from seed, bulbs, tubers, cuttings and grafting
  • Pomology – Fruit and nuts

    • Organismal topics

  • Agrostology – Grasses
  • Batology – Brambles
  • Bryology – Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts
  • Lichenology – Lichens
  • Mycology, or fungology – Fungi
  • Orchidology – Orchids
  • Phycology, or algology – Algae
  • Pteridology – Fern and their allies
  • Rhodology – Roses
  • Synantherology – Compositae

    • References

    Branches of botany Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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