Botany : Natural and life sciences (L2 SNV)

Abstract

The term Botany comes from the Ancient Greek botanikē (feminine of botanikos, "relating to herbs"), itself derived from botanē, meaning "herb, plant, fodder". In a modern and academic sense, botany is the biological science devoted to the study of plants. It is not limited to the simple description of plants, but encompasses the study of their structure (morphology and anatomy), their functioning (physiology), their relationships with the environment (ecology) and their classification (systematics). Historically, botany included algae, fungi, and lichens. Although modern systematics (phylogenetics) now places fungi in a separate kingdom (the Fungi kingdom), the study of these organisms remains a fundamental component of the botany curriculum due to their ecological importance and their biological interactions with plants. ....