In other words it may be called the plant biology. The terms botany has come from the ancient Greek word ‘botane’. In the dictionary the meaning of the word is pasture / grass / fodder. The study of fungi and algae has also included in botany by the microbiologist traditionally. In modern science botanists study approximately 400,000speciesof living organism of which about 260,000species are vascular and the rest are the flowering plants.
Prehistorically Botany originated as herbalism with the efforts of human of early historic age to identify, and latter cultivate, edible, medicinal and poisonous plants. So the botany is one of the oldest branches of science.
Modern botany is a broad, multidisciplinary subject. It gets inputs from most other areas of science and technology. The study of plant structure, growth and differentiation, reproduction, bio-chemistry and primary metabolism, chemical products, development, diseases, evolutionary relationships, systematic, and plant taxonomy are included in botany. in providing staple foods and textiles, In modern horticulture, agriculture and forestry, plant propagation, genetic and breeding, modification, in the synthesis of chemicals as well as the raw materials for construction and energy production, in environmental management, and the maintenance of biodiversity the botanical research has assorted its applications.
Gregor Johann Mendel, the German scientist, Building upon the gene-chromosome theory of heredity has proved that inheritance only takes place through gametes and no other cells can pass on inherited characters. The work of Katherine Esau on plant anatomy is a pathway of modern botany.
The study of plants is quite vital because they support almost all animal life on the earth. The plants are generating a large proportion of oxygen and food for the need of human and other animals. Plants, algae and cyanobacteria are the major group of organism that carry out the photosynthesis. The photosynthesis is a process that uses the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar which can be used both as a source of chemical energy for the cells and of organic molecules that are used in the structural mechanism of cells. Oxygen that released in to the air is a by-product of photosynthesis and the oxygen is required by all living thing to carry out the respiration. In addition the plants are significant in the global carbon and water cycles and its root bind and stabilise soils and prevents soil erosion. So the study of plants or the botany is crucial to the future of human society, as the plants provide food, oxygen, medicine, and products for people, as well as creating and preventing soil.
The field of botany is quite broad, there are many kinds of plant biologists and many different opportunities also available. The result of different research and study of botany gradual improvement of our supply of medicines, foods, fibres, building materials, and other plant products are occurring. Conservationists use botanical knowledge to help manage parks, forests, range lands, and wilderness areas. In our following chapters we shall go on details on different branches of botany, which will fulfil the interest of common people and as well as the students of botany.
There are more than two millions plants and animals in the world. Large numbers of organisms have become extinct as a result organic evolution through millions of years. At the same time, large numbers of plants and animals species have still remained incomprehensible. The process of arranging the living species in a definite pattern is known as classification and which deals with the grouping of plant and animals is called TAXONOMY. ……..