Branches of botany

Botany is a natural science concerned with the study of plants. The main branches of botany (also referred to as "plant science") are commonly divided into three groups: core topics, concerned with the study of the fundamental natural phenomena and processes of plant life, the classification and description of plant diversity; applied topics which study the ways in which plants may be used for economic benefit in horticulture, agriculture and forestry; and organismic topics which focus on plant groups such as algae, mosses or flowering plants.

Core topics

• Cytology — cell structure, chromosome number
• Epigenetics — Control of gene expression
• Paleobotany — Study of fossil plants and plant evolution
• Palynology — Pollen and spores
• Plant biochemistry — Chemical processes of primary and secondary metabolism
• Phenology — timing of germination, flowering and fruiting
• Phytochemistry — Plant secondary chemistry and chemical processes
• Phytogeography — Plant Biogeography, the study of plant distributions
• Phytosociology — Plant communities and interactions
• Plant anatomy — Structure of plant cells and tissues
• Plant ecology — Role and function of plants in the environment
• Plant evolutionary developmental biology — Plant development from an evolutionary perspective
• Plant genetics — Genetic inheritance in plants
• Plant morphology — Structure of plants
• Plant physiology — Life functions of plants
• Plant reproduction — Processes of plant reproduction
• Plant systematics — Classification and naming of plants
• Plant taxonomy — Classification and naming of plants

Applied topics

• Agronomy — Application of plant science to crop production
• Arboriculture — Culture and propagation of trees
• Biotechnology — Use of plants to synthesize products
• Dendrology — Study of woody plants, shrubs, trees and lianas
• Economic botany — Study of plants of economic use or value
• Ethnobotany — Plants and people. Use and selection of plants by humans
• Forestry — Forest management and related studies
• Horticulture — cultivation of garden plants
• Marine botany — Study of aquatic plants and algae that live in seawater
• Micropropagation — rapid propagation of plants using cell and tissue culture
• Pharming (genetics) — Genetic engineering of plants to produce pharmaceuticals
• Plant breeding — Breeding of plants with desirable genetic characters
• Plant pathology (Phytopathology) — Plant diseases
• Plant propagation — propagation of plants from seed, bulbs, tubers, cuttings and grafting
• Pomology — Fruit and nuts

Organismal topics

• Agrostology — Grasses
• Bryology — Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts
• Lichenology — Lichens
• Mycology — Fungi
• Orchidology - Orchids
• Phycology — Algae
• Pteridology — Fern and their allies
• Synantherology — Compositae