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Botany

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<p><strong>Botany</strong> is the scientific study of plantlife. As a branch of biology, it is also called <strong>plant science(s)</strong>, <strong>phytology</strong>, or <strong>plant biology</strong>. Botany covers a wide range of scientific disciplines that study plants, algae, and fungi including: structure, growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases, and chemical properties and evolutionary relationships between the different groups. The study of plants and botany began with tribal lore, used to identify edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making botany one of the oldest sciences. From this ancient interest in plants, the scope of botany has increased to include the study of over 550,000 kinds or species of living organisms.</p>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">Scope and importance of botany</span></h2>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 252px"><img class="thumbimage" height="188" alt="Hibiscus" width="250" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Beli-hibiskus.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Beli-hibiskus.jpg/250px-Beli-hibiskus.jpg" width="250" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Beli-hibiskus.jpg" />
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Hibiscus</div>
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<h3><span class="mw-headline">Human nutrition</span></h3>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 182px"><img class="thumbimage" height="225" alt="Nearly all the food we eat comes (directly and indirectly) from plants like this American long grain rice." width="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_long_grain_rice.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/US_long_grain_rice.jpg/180px-US_long_grain_rice.jpg" width="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_long_grain_rice.jpg" />
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Nearly all the food we eat comes (directly and indirectly) from plants like this American long grain rice.</div>
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<p>Virtually all foods eaten comes from plants, either directly from staple foods and other fruit and vegetables, or indirectly through livestock or other animals, which rely on plants for their nutrition. Plants are the fundamental base of nearly all food chains because they use the energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil and atmosphere and convert them into a form that can be consumed and utilized by animals, this is what ecologists call the first trophic level. Botanists also study how plants produce food we can eat and how to increase yields and therefore their work is important in mankind's ability to <em>feed the world</em> and provide food security for future generations, for example through plant breeding. Botanists also study weeds, plants which are considered to be a nuisance in a particular location. Weeds are a considerable problem in agriculture, and botany provides some of the basic science used to understand how to minimize 'weed' impact in agriculture and native ecosystems. Ethnobotany is the study of the relationships between plants and people.</p>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 155px"><img class="thumbimage" height="204" alt="Gregor Mendel laid the foundations of genetics from his studies of plants." width="153" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Mendel.png" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Mendel.png" width="153" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Mendel.png" />
<div class="thumbcaption">Gregor Mendel laid the foundations of genetics from his studies of plants.</div>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 182px"><img class="thumbimage" height="252" alt="The traditional tools of a botanist." width="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Botany.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Botany.jpg/180px-Botany.jpg" width="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Botany.jpg" />
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The traditional tools of a botanist.</div>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">See also</span></h2>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 182px"><img class="thumbimage" height="295" alt="Crantz's Classis cruciformium..., 1769" width="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:H_J_N_Crantz_Classis_cruciformium.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/H_J_N_Crantz_Classis_cruciformium.jpg/180px-H_J_N_Crantz_Classis_cruciformium.jpg" width="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:H_J_N_Crantz_Classis_cruciformium.jpg" />
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Crantz's <em>Classis cruciformium...</em>, 1769</div>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">External links</span></h2>
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<div style="MARGIN-LEFT: 60px"><a class="external text" title="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/PlantGrowth.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/PlantGrowth.html" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc"><br />&nbsp;plant growth</font></a> and <a class="external text" title="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/PlantCell.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/PlantCell.html" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">the plant cell</font></a> from <a class="external text" title="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/" rel="nofollow" href="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Kimball's Biology Pages</font></a> </div>
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<li><a class="external text" title="http://www.botany.org/newsite/botany/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.botany.org/newsite/botany/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Botanical Society of America: What is Botany?</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/index.htm" rel="nofollow" href="http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/index.htm" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Science and Plants for Schools</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/mineralogie/palbot/teach/botanyteach.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/mineralogie/palbot/teach/botanyteach.html" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Teaching Documents about Botany</font></a> Teaching documents, lecture notes and tutorials online: an annotated link directory. </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.aspb.org/aboutus/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.aspb.org/aboutus/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">American society of plant biologists APSB</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/teaching/content.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/teaching/content.html" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Why study Plants? Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Botany Photo of the Day</font></a> </li>
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<p><a id="Flora_and_other_plant_catalogs_or_databases" name="Flora_and_other_plant_catalogs_or_databases"></a></p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline">Flora and other plant catalogs or databases</span></h3>
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<li><a class="external text" title="http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/www-vl/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/www-vl/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">The Virtual Library of Botany</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.kulak.ac.be/bioweb/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.kulak.ac.be/bioweb/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">High quality pictures of plants and information about them</font></a> from Catholic University of Leuven </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://fax.libs.uga.edu/QK1xC981/" rel="nofollow" href="http://fax.libs.uga.edu/QK1xC981/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Curtis's Botanical Magazine</font></a>, 1790-1856 </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://fax.libs.uga.edu/QK488xE4/" rel="nofollow" href="http://fax.libs.uga.edu/QK488xE4/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">The Trees Of Great Britain and Ireland</font></a>, by Henry John Elwes &amp; Augustine Henry, 1906-1913 </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.pflanzen-portal.com" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pflanzen-portal.com/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Botanik-Datenbank</font></a> (ger.) </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://green-24.de/search/botanik/pflanzen/index.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://green-24.de/search/botanik/pflanzen/index.html" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Plant Directory</font></a> (ger.) </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://plants.usda.gov/index.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://plants.usda.gov/index.html" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">USDA plant database</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.linnean.org/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.linnean.org/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">The Linnean Society of London</font></a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://wildflower.utexas.edu/" rel="nofollow" href="http://wildflower.utexas.edu/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0066cc">Native Plant Information Network</font></a> </li>
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