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Introduction to Botany Module 1

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 INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY

“A man doesn’t plant a tree for himself. He plants it for prosperity.”

~ Alexander Smith

The world you live in is rapidly changing, growing and advancing. New discoveries and
high technologies are making our lives easier, comfortable and sustainable. DNA sequencing,
genetic engineering, molecular cloning, atomic force microscopy, multimode imaging are only
few of new technologies that urges Synthetic Biology, Precision Agriculture, and Millennial
Farmers to exist. In this module you will investigate Botany as a science. You will also study how
study of plants is significant to you and how plants affect your life.
The picture above shows a developing and growing plant. Plants are one of the most
fascinating and important groups of organisms living on Earth. They serve as the conduit of
energy into the biosphere, provide food, and shape our environment. If we want to make
headway in understanding how these essential organisms function and build the foundation for a
more sustainable future, then we need to apply the most advanced technologies available to the
study of plant life. That’s the biggest challenge of humanity and Botany. As, part of the society,
what can you do to get involved in this endeavor?

Read and Find Out:

 What is botany?
 What are the different disciplines of botany and its focus of study?
 What are the modern advancements in plant science?
 Who did great contributions in the development of Botany?
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Botany as Science
Module Objectives:
1. Describe the field of Botany.
2. Interrelate other fields and sub-discipline of botany.
3. Trace the timeline of developments in botany.
4. Appreciate the achievements of some Filipino and foreign scientists in the development
of botany and related technology.

1.1 What is Botany?

Botany is the branch of biology concerned with the scientific study of plants including
their physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic
importance.

Almost everything we eat is derived from plants, either directly or indirectly. Obviously,
we must better understand how plants operate, in order to grow the best and most nutritious
crops in less-than-ideal soils, and to reduce our dependence on inorganic fertilizers and
pesticides. As the population of the world is expanding while the climate continues to change,
agricultural science could help save millions of lives. In this lesson, we will explore the science of
plants, Botany.

Botany is one of the natural sciences. Natural sciences can be organized under two broad
categories of physical sciences and biological sciences. (Figure 1.1). Physical science is concerned
with the materials in or world and in the entire universe and how energy affects these materials.
Biological sciences involve the study of life forms.

Figure 1.1 Divisions of Natural Sciences

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1.2 Brief History of Botany

Figure 1.2 History of Botany – A Timeline

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1.3 Sub-disciplines of Botany

Because botany is such a broad field of study, it has been divided into a number of smaller
fields. The main divisions of botany are shown in the Table 1. There is a significant overlap of
these divisions, as well as overlap with other sciences, and they should not be viewed as separate
and distinct.

Table 1. Sub disciplines of Botany

Fields in Botany Focus of study

» Agronomy Application of plant science to crop production

» Bryology Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts

» Economic botany Study of plants of economic use or value

» Ethnobotany Relationship between humans and plants

» Forestry Forest management and related studies

» Horticulture Cultivated plants

» Lichenology The study of lichens

» Paleobotany Fossil plants

» Palynology Pollen and spores

» Phycology Algae

» Phytochemistry Plant secondary chemistry and chemical processes

» Phytopathology Plant diseases

» Plant anatomy Cell and tissue structure

» Plant biotechnology Present technology used in different sub disciplines in plant

science

» Plant breeding Hybridization in plants

» Plant ecology Role of plants in the environment

» Plant morphology Structure and life cycles

» Plant physiology Life functions of plants

» Plant systematics Classification and naming of plants

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1.4 Botany News

Modern botanists aim for sustainable plant and animal life. Latest discovery in the
field of plant science is about applications of nano technology to plants. Nano particles
(NPs) are utilized in producing nanoparticle –mediated materials in plants. It has a unique
physicochemical properties, i.e., high surface area, high reactivity, tunable pore size, and
particle morphology, because of it, NPs has numerous applications to plants. NPs can
serve as “magic bullets” that can be introduced to plants containing herbicides, nano-
pesticide fertilizers or genes, which target specific cellular organelles in plant to release
their content and make the plant protected from pest invaders, genetically modified, all for
a better yield. Figure 1.4 shows the process of how silver NPs are synthesized using plants.
The silver NPs has been proven to be effective as antimicrobial material which led to its
applications in biomedical purposes. Joginder, S., Duhan, R. K., Naresh, K., Pawan, K.,
Kiran, N., and Surekha,2017; Shakeel Ahmed and Saiqa Ikram, 2015)

Figure 1.3

Biofuel production from plants is also an advancement in the field of botany . Biofuels
are environmental friendly because it emits less carbon to the environment. Unlike fossil fuels,
biofuels are a renewable energy source. Because they are derived from crops that can be har-
vested annually, or in the case of algae monthly, biofuels are theoretically unlimited. First off,
biofuels are biological molecules and this means they are biodegradable. Bacteria and other
organisms that live naturally in the soil and water are able to use biofuel molecules as energy
sources and break them down into harmless byproducts. This means that even though concen-
trated biofuel spills can kill things like plants and smaller animals, they will not persist in the
environment and cause damage or make an area uninhabitable for long periods of time. This
discovery is timely because we cannot deny the fact that our environment is depleting due to
pollution.

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1.5 Some Botanists and their contributions
The field of Botany would not be as advanced as it is now without the contributions of
great minds. Many scientists contributed to the development of botany. The following are the top
five famous botanist in the world.

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Carl Linnaeus, also known as Carl von Linne or Carolus
Linnaeus, is also called the Father of Taxonomy. He developed a
system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms.

John Ray (1628-1705)

John Ray (1628-1705): He was the first person to prove that
the wood of a living tree conducts water and this work won him a
place in the newly formed Royal Society of London, one of the
world’s first scientific societies, in 1667.

George Betham (1800-1884) and Joseph Hooker (1817-1911)

George Bentham, a self-trained British Botanist and Sir Joseph

Dalton Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
(England), proposed a natural system of classification in their book
Genera Plantarum which includes the generic descriptions of 92,205
species belonging to 7,569 genera of 200 families of flowering plants.

Charles Edwin Bessey (1845-1915)

C.E. Bessey who trained under Asay Gray and then became a
Professor of Botany at the University of Nebraska, proposed a
phylogenetic system of classification which is called “Bessey’s
Cactus”, which reflected the evolutionary ideas of Darwin which
had greatly impressed him.

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Module 1: Botany as Science

Adolf Engler (1844-1930) and Karl Pranti (1849-1893)

Proposed the system of plants classification .

Engler’s system is that, the families of higher vascular plants

are arranged according to the increasing complexity of the flower.

Pranti provided keys and description for all the then known
genera of algae, fungi, bryophytes and higher vascular plants.

The highest honor of the Philippine government gives outstanding Filipino scientists is to bestow on
them the rank of National Scientist. Seven of the more than 20 National Scientist are presented here.

Pedro B. Escuro

Pedro B. Escuro has achieved fame as a plant breeder. He

developed high-yield varieties of C4 rice that was hardy against
disease and pests. His varieties are high quality rice and have good

Bienvenido O. Juliano

Bienvenido O. Juliano has spent much of his life improving the

grain quality of rice. He made the rice more economical and more
nutritious. He developed a method of evaluating grain quality and is a
senior consultant for the Philippine Rice Research Institute.

Evelyn Mae T. Mendoza

Evelyn Mae T. Mendoza has performed research in plant

biochemistry, particularly in the makapuno phenotype of coconut and
the nutritional worth of certain legumes indigenous to the Philippines,
cassava, and sweet potatoes. She also studied the resistance of certain
plants to pests or disease.

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Eduardo Quisumbing

Eduardo Quisumbing is an authority of Philippine plants. He

has published numerous papers, many concerning medicinal plants,
like orchids. He has received many awards, like the Distinguished
Service Star (botany) and the Diploma of Merit (Orchidology).

Asuncion Raymundo

Asuncion Raymundo is a researcher into the chemistry of

natural products. She applied biotechnology and microbial genetics to
agriculture of the Philippines. She is an Academician of NAST, the
National Academy of Science and Technology, and is on the advisory
group of science and technology to the Office of the President.

Benito S. Vergara

Benito S. Vergara is an expert on the flowering response of

rice to photoperiodism and physiology. His research has led to
improvement of deep water rice, rice that is tolerant to floods and
cold temperatures, and increased production.

Prescillano M. Zamora

Prescillano M. Zamora has done work on the xylem elements

of vascular plants. His research on ferns has led to the discovery of
additional species. He has also contributed to the conservation of
natural resources and environment policy research.

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KEY CONCEPTS / SUMMARY

1. Botany is a branch of biology which studies about plants. Since studies about plants are

broad, it has been subdivided into specific disciplines, such as agronomy, bryology,

ethnobotany, forestry, horticulture, ecology, morphology, and physiology.

2. The study of botany started even ancient time. Theophrastus, Aristotle and Dioscorides were

the primary contributor in this field. Their works are mostly on the medicinal properties of

plants. The invention of microscope in the 17th century by Robert Hooke leads to the

advancement of discoveries in botany. Anton Van Leeuenhoek was able to see the plant cell.

From then on, cell organelles such as chlorophyll a and b have been discovered. The discovery

of chlorophyll leads to the elucidation of photosynthesis by Julius Robert Mayer. Ecology

became the separate discipline and up to the present, ecological balance exploration continued

which is the primary focus of study of this field.

5. Botany at present time has been commercialized. Several specialized commercial fields have

developed NPs for plant application to increase crop yields. Discovery of biofuel will minimize

environmental issues on pollution.

6. Botany evolved from ancient to modern time because of botanists’ great minds.

Contributions of Carl Linnaeus, George Betham, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Charles Edwin

Bessey offers systematic grouping and classification of plants which are useful even up to this

time. Filipino botanists generally contribute to agronomy, such as improvement of rice plants,

coconut, cassava, sweet potatoes, legumes and some medicinal plants

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Module 1: Botany as Science

PRACTICE TEST

A. Choose the letter of the best answer.

1. Ethnobotany is a branch of botany that deals with _______

a. algae
b. terrestrial plants
c. primitive plants
d. relationship between the primitive people and the plants

2. The science of naming the plant is known as

a. Mycology
b. Taxonomy
c. Dendrology
d. Pedology

3. Who among the following Filipino scientist who applied biotechnology and microbial
genetics to agriculture?
a. Benito Vergara
b. Asuncion Raymundo
c. Prescillano Zamora
d. Bienvenido Juliano

4. Carl Linnaeus was considered the father of taxonomy due to the following reasons
a. he studied phytochemicals in medicinal plants
b. he develop a system for grouping, classifying and ranking of organisms
c. he isolated flavonoids from herbal plants and tested for antibacterial activity.
d. he invented the “one pot green synthesis”

5. The following are advancement in botany EXEPT

a. DNA reprogramming in plant reproductive cycle
b. biofuel from sorghum
c. transgenic cow
d. silver NPs from plant

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Module 1: Botany as Science

B. Match column A with column B.

A B
1. Bryology a. high yield variety of C4 rice
2. John Ray b. algae
3. Pedro B. Escuro c. mosses, liverworts, & hornworts
4. Phytopathology d. Bessay’s Cactus
5. Phycology e. Makapuno phenotype
6. Evelyn Mae Mendoza f. father of taxonomy
7. Plant physiology g. fossil plants
8. Carl Linneus h. wood conducts water
9. Paleobotany i. plant disease
10. Charles Edwin Bessey j. life functions of plants

Transition Assessment Activity

Direction: As a learner, have some reflections by answering the following questions :

1. What are the most important insights you gained from reading the module?
2. What are the other things you did to understand the module fully?
3. What is your score in the post test? Does the score show that you learned well or not?

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Module 1: Botany as Science

REFERENCES

Arber, Agnes. “THE EARLY HISTORY OF BOTANY.” Herbals: Their Origin and
Evolution, 2010: 1-2.

Farabee, M. Development of the Evolutionary Theory. 2001. https://

www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookEVOLI.html
(accessed July 22, 2016).

JRank Articles. e: Botany – History of botany – Plants, Plant, Study, and Century. 2016.
http://science.jrank.org/pages/996/Botany.html (accessed July 24, 2016).

kenyon.edu. History of Genetics. 2016. http://biology.kenyon.edu/courses/biol114/

Chap01/history_genetics.html (accessed July 22, 2016).

Kumar, Punam. Introduction to botany. 2016. http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/

bot/frame1.html (accessed July 23, 2016).

Mason, M.G. Introduction to Botany. 2016. http://www.environmentalscience.org/botany

(accessed July 23, 2016).

Rhoads, Dan. History of Cell Biology. 2007. http://bitesizebio.com/166/history-of-cell-

biology/ (accessed July 22, 2016).

Richman, Vita. History of botany. 2016. http://science.jrank.org/pages/996/Botany.html

(accessed July 23, 2016).

ROOK A (ed.). 1964. The Origins and Growth of Biology. Harmondsworth, Middlesex:
Penguin Books, Ltd. 403 p.

"History of Botany," in Bio Explorer by Jack Kirsten, August 12, 2016, https://
www.bioexplorer.net/history_of_biology/botany/.

"Top 12 Botany News For 2017," in Bio Explorer by Jack Kirsten, January 5, 2018, https://
www.bioexplorer.net/botany-news-2017.html/.

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