botany

Introduction
Historical background
Areas of study
- Morphology
- Physiology
- Ecology
- Systematics
- Other subdisciplines
Methods in botany
- Morphological aspects
- Physiological aspects
- Ecological aspects
- Taxonomic aspects

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Portrait of Marcello Malpighi, Italian scientist and physician, with long curly hair, mustache, and goatee, wearing a dark robe with a white collar.

At a Glance

botany summary

Quizzes

greylag. Flock of Greylag geese during their winter migration at Bosque del Apache National Refugee, New Mexico. greylag goose (Anser anser)

Biology Bonanza

Related Questions

How did Darwin’s ideas about evolution influence plant classification?
How did Nehemiah Grew and Marcello Malpighi contribute to plant anatomy?
How did Nicolas de Saussure explain the increase in plant weight during photosynthesis?
How did the printing press change the study of medicinal plants?
How do annual, biennial, and perennial plants differ in their life cycles?
How do auxin, cytokinins, and gibberellins affect plant growth?
How do botanical gardens and greenhouses support plant research?
How do electron microscopes improve the study of plant structures?
How do lateral meristems make stems wider and thicker?
How do meristems allow plants to keep growing throughout life?
How do parasitic plants survive without making all their own food?
How do plant cells differ from animal cells?
How do plants help control water quality and water levels?
How do plants protect soil from erosion?
How do plants provide raw materials for medicines, fabrics, and fuels?
How do roots, stems, and leaves work together in vascular plants?
How do stomata help vascular plants exchange gases with the atmosphere?
How do xylem and phloem differ in their functions?
How does a plant’s sporophyte generation differ from its gametophyte generation?
How does botany differ from zoology and other branches of biology?
How does double fertilization occur in flowering plants?
How does ethnobotany examine traditional uses of plants?
How does photosynthesis provide energy for food chains?
How does plant pathology study diseases that affect plants?
What did Jan Ingenhousz discover about plants kept in the dark?
What did Stephen Hales discover about water movement in plants?
What environmental conditions trigger seed germination?
What happens in apical meristems at the tips of roots and shoots?
Which crops provide the main food source for more than half of Earth’s population?
Which useful materials do people obtain from plants?
Why did Robert Hooke use the term cell after observing cork?
Why do plant cell walls contain cellulose?
How is genetic testing done?
What is the significance of photosynthesis by plants?

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External Websites

University of Kentucky, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment - Extension Publications - Basic Botany
Pressbooks at Virginia Tech - Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook - Botany
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Botany
Biology LibreTexts - Botany
Harvard University Herbaria and Libraries - In the Field: Botany in the Wild

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

botany - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
botany - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Theophrastus Theophrastus, statue in the Botanic Garden, Palermo, Italy.

botany

biology

Written by

William Campbell Steere

Professor of Botany, Columbia University, 1958–75. President, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, 1970–72; Director, 1958–70. Editor of Fifty Years of Botany.

William Campbell SteereAll

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026 •History

botany, branch of biology that deals with the study of plants, including their structure, properties, and biochemical processes. Also included are plant classification and the study of plant diseases and of interactions with the environment. The principles and findings of botany have provided the base for such applied sciences as agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. Plants were of paramount importance to early humans, who depended upon them as sources of food, shelter, clothing, medicine, ornament, tools,...

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