70 Astounding Botany Facts For All The Science Aspirants

North America's Sequoia and Africa's Baobab tree are the world's broadest trees.

Earth's largest living structure is the Great Barrier Reef. California Redwood trees are the world's largest and tallest living organisms.

Did you know that botany is the scientific study of plants? It covers everything from flowering plants to mosses and ferns.

In fact, many people don't realize just how diverse plant life can be. Plants come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be found in some of the most unexpected places. Just like us, plants do get sick and die.

A rigid cell wall in all plant cells guards the plant against bacteria and pathogens. Here are astounding botany facts that will make you want to learn more about this fascinating subject!

Around 99% of dead cells make up an average tree. The phloem, root tips, and leaves are the only living things on a tree. Tiny oranges are produced by Bonsai Orange Tree.

'Vegetable' is a culinary word and 'fruit' is a botanical word. So, some vegetation like cucumbers, eggplants, green beans, and tomatoes can either be called vegetables or fruits. The spice comes from a plant's bulb, root, bark, stem, berry, or seed and herb come from the leaves.

Wasabi and mustard are not spicy until they get crushed. The heaviest single organism is also the world's heaviest tree. It covers a complete forest located in Utah.

The Invention Of Botany

Botany was invented by the scientific community in 1753. Carl Linnaeus published his Systema Naturae, which introduced binomial nomenclature for plants and animals (and also gave them scientific names).

• Early examples of botany were found in India's ancient texts, works from China, and Ancient Egypt's Avestan writings.
• Modern taxonomy of organisms originates from Carl Linnaeus' work of grouping species as per their physical characteristics.
• The word 'botanist' comes from the Greek word botane meaning 'to study plants'.
• Around 80% of Earth's green plants are flowering plants or angiosperms.
• The life cycle of a plant specimen starts with a spore or seed that germinates and grows into a new plant. This process is called reproduction.
• Gymnosperms do not produce seeds in flowers, but they have open seeds. Many angiosperms and all gymnosperms are woody plants like oak trees and azaleas.
• Herbalism is the originating point of botany.
• A few early relationships of people-plant came from Canada's Indigenous people in identifying the inedible plant from edible plants.
• Flowering plants and non-flowering plants are two divisions of vascular plants.
• Although the sunflower seems to be a large flower, it is composed of numerous florets, tiny flowers.
• Arabidopsis thaliana, Thale cress, was the first plant whose genome was sequenced. This sequencing also remains to be a highly important model organism.
• Parts of vascular plants can move materials like water all across the plant.
• Strawberries are the only fruits that bear seeds on the outside. There are almost 200 seeds in an average strawberry.
• Few experiments have suggested that plants grow well and are healthy when exposed to soothing or classical music. Every year, most of the plants grow flowers, however, a few of them take longer.
• Flowers are not the only ones that are part of the rose family, but apples, pears, and peaches are a part of it.
• Sweden has one of the oldest trees in the world and the oldest living Picea abies. We know it as Tjikko with a root system that is around 9,561 years old.
• If you touch poison ivy, it can cause an itchy rash on your skin. It's caused by a skin irritant known as urushiol.
• The science of calculating the age of a tree as per its rings is known as dendrochronology.
• People use plants to make dyes. You can color your clothes with walnut juice, tea bags, or stewed onion skin.
• As per scientists, freshly cut grass releases chemicals that relieve stress. Also, the freshly-cut grass smell is a plant distress call.
• Camellia Sinensis produces white, green, and black teas. The processing methods are different.
• Cucumber is not a vegetable but a fruit as there are seeds in the middle.

Branches Of Botany

Botany is a scientific discipline that deals with the scientific study of plants. It includes many branches like plant physiology, plant taxonomy, plant anatomy and morphology (form), cellular biology and genetics, systematics or evolution, and ecology of plants.

• The utilization of plant science in the production of crops is called agronomy.
• The study of hornworts, liverworts, and mosses is known as bryology. People working on classifying and observing bryophytes are called bryologists.
• The study of forest management and its related fields is known as forestry. A person whose job is to look after forests is known as a forester.
• The study of cultivated plants is known as horticulture. The study of fungi is mycology.
• The study of spores and pollen is known as micropaleontology, a branch of paleontology.
• The study of fossil plants is known as paleobotany, which is a part of paleontology.
• The study of algae is known as algology or phycology. The person who studies this science is called a phycologist.
• The branch of plant biochemistry mainly concentrates on chemical substances produced in the secondary metabolism of plants.
• The study of plant disease is called phytopathology or plant pathology. It includes studying harm done by both environmental conditions and pathogens.
• The study of a plant's internal (tissue and cell) structure is known as phytotomy or plant anatomy. Although now it only includes the internal structure of a plant, plant morphology was a part of this branch before the 20th-century.
• The study of the role played by plants in our environment is known as plant ecology.
• The study of genetic inheritance in a plant is known as plant genetics.
• The study of the external structure and physical form of plants is known as phytomorphology or plant morphology. It's used to visually identify plants.
• The study of how plants work is known as plant physiology. Botanists used many methods to study photosynthesis, transpiration, dormancy, tropisms, respiration, and many more.
• The naming and classification of plant species are known as plant systematics.

Uses Of Botany

Plants are an essential part of our day-to-day life. Plant species are used in various aspects of human life. The study of botany, plant ecologist, and botanists are important to save our Earth. Botany is important because it helps us to understand the complex relationships between plants and their environment.

• Plants provide food, oxygen, and shelter for animals and humans alike.
• Botany is important because it helps us to understand the complex relationships between plants and their environment.
• A compound is known as salicin in willow tree bark was discovered after scientists realized that these barks relieved the toothache of indigenous people when they chewed on it.
• Transgenic plants are those plants whose DNA is altered using genetic engineering. These plants are useful in several industries and agriculture.
• Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant, growing up to 35 in (0.8 m) each day.
• Plants extract carbon dioxide from the air, supplying oxygen that we take in to keep our bodies alive.
• Tree willow is used to make cricket bats and the hickory tree is used for baseballs.
• Africa's elephant grass is 147.6 ft (45 m) high. Elephants can easily hide in this grass.
• The corpse flower or Rafflesia flower is the largest. It can grow 42 in (1 m) in height with 3 ft (0.9 m).
• Succulent plants like cactus thrive in dry and hot climates, in places with water scarcity, as they can store water in their thick stems and leaves.
• Plants feed many living organisms. Large animals can eat whole plants and insects, chew or feed on leaves.
• There are over 260,000 different species of flowering plants! Flowers come in all shapes and sizes, and they serve many purposes, such as attracting pollinators and reproducing.
• Fruit trees produce edible fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, and strawberries. These plants have been cultivated for thousands of years to create new varieties with improved characteristics like taste or coloration.
• An average-sized tree provides enough amount of wood for making 170,100 pencils.
• Half the oxygen in the world is produced by the Amazon rainforest. Brazil was the name of a tree.
• As per the biologist Daniel Chamovitz, plants remember, smell, see, and feel, maybe deaf.
• Complete dandelion plant edible. Its leaves provide vitamin K, a brewed drink is made out of its root, wine can be made out of its flowers.

Famous Botanists

Botanists study plant biology and later research these studies. They also study algae and fungi. Botanists who have the special knowledge of paleobotany study fossilized plants. Studies conducted by botanists help develop medicines and also control aspects of pollution.

• The title 'Father of Natural History' is given to Ulisse Aldrovandi, a naturalist.
• The 1665 compound microscope invention by Robert Hooke began the progress of scientific knowledge in Botany.
• Through experiments on pea plants, Gregor Mendel conducted studies on genetic inheritance in plants.
• The Andalusian-Arab physician, pharmacist, botanist, scientist, Ibn al-Baitar, was also the author of a large botanical encyclopedia.
• Luther P was an American horticulturist, botanist, and one of the first to study agricultural science.
• After Charles Darwin published 'Origin Of Species', he published eight more vital botany books.
• The Kurdish mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and botanist, Al-Dinawari discovered Arabic botany.
• Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian plant physiologist, biologist, and physicist, transformed science with studies on how animals and plants react to external stimuli. He also established the Bose Institute.
• Terence McKenna, public speaker, ethnobotanist, and philosopher, worked on subjects like metaphysics, alchemy, shamanism, and psychedelic drugs.
• John Muir, the Scottish-American author, zoologist, botanist, glaciologist, environmental philosopher, and naturalist is considered to be a hero by several environmentalists across the world.
• Li Ching-Yuen, a Chinese tactical advisor, herbalist, and martial artist, is believed to have lived on a diet of exotic herbs and rice wine throughout his life.
• Marie Stopes, born in Edinburgh, was not only a popular activist but also a successful botanist. She was known for her works, 'Wise Parenthood' and 'Married Love'.
• The famous South African philosopher, statesman, and military leader was also a botanist.
• David Bellamy was once considered to be the leading expert on environment and botany.
• Robert Brown, a Scottish Copley Medal-winning botanist is known for his detailed descriptions on subjects like cell nuclei, which later got popular as 'Brownian Motion'.
• Joseph Dalton Hooker was a British botanist who was one of the greatest supporters of Charles Darwin. He is famous as the pioneer of geographical botany and also a Copley-medal winner.
• Pattrick Geddes was a biologist and sociologist and first taught botany at Dundee.
• Janaki Ammal, the Indian botanist, worked on plant breeding, cytogenetics, and phytogeography. In 1977, her work was awarded the fourth-highest honor of India, the Padma Shri.