Branches of botany
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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.
Core topics
[edit]- Cytology – cell structure
- 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 – the 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
[edit]- Agronomy – Application of plant science to crop production
- Arboriculture – Culture and propagation of trees
- Astrobotany - The study of plants in space
- 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
- Seed technology - Seed technology is the science dealing with the methods of improving physical and genetical characteristics of seed.
Organismal topics
[edit]groups of organisms - clades, grades and guilds
- Agrostology, or graminology – Poaceae (grasses)
- Batology – Rubus subg. Rubus (brambles)
- Bryology,[1] or muscology – mosses (sensu stricto) or mosses, liverworts, and hornworts (sensu lato)
- Caricology – Carex (sedges)
- Charology – Charales (stoneworts)
- Citrology – Citrus
- Cycadology – Cycads
- Dendrology – trees
- Hepaticology, or hepatology – Marchantiophyta (liverworts)
- Lichenology – lichens
- Mycology, mycetology, or fungology – fungi
- Orchidology – Orchidaceae
- Phycology, [2] or algology – Algae
- Pteridology, or filicology – ferns and their allies
- Rhodology – Rosa
- Sphagnology – Sphagnum
- Synantherology – Asteraceae (composites)
study of chronological dating using plants
- Acanthochronology – Cactaceae
- Dendrochronology – wood
References
[edit]- ^ "British Bryological Society". Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
- ^ Harvey, William Henry. 1849. A Manual of the British Marine Algae... John van Voorst, London