The botany is that part of natural science that aims to study the plant, both under microscopic and molecular aspect, macroscopic and functional. Vegetables are organic and living beings, devoid of nervous sensitivity and crazy mobility; but they enjoy irritability, and resistance to external actions that permanently tend to destroy them. This science is divided into several kingdoms: plantae, fungi, protoctista and monera, which will be explained later.
What is botany
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This science, also known as phytology, belongs to biology, as it studies plants from the point of view of their composition, anatomical characteristics, description, classification, relationship between them and other living beings, adaptation, functions, among other aspects that are necessary to understand about them. To understand what botany is, it is important to know the two types: pure and applied.
In addition to these two subdivisions, there is systematic botany, which is responsible for studying plants in order to know their nomenclature, for their identification and subsequent classification, according to their characteristics, uses, morphology and composition.
The study of kingdoms
There are several kingdoms of botany, which are the object of its study: plantae, fungi, protoctista and monera.
The kingdom plantae
It includes all the plants that exist and that not only serve for human and animal consumption, but also provide raw material that can be used. Plants can provide oxygen and convert the sun's energy into food. There are two types: bryophytes, which are very small, do not have seeds or flowers, therefore they reproduce through spores (unicellular or multicellular body for reproduction or dispersal purposes), such as mosses and liver plants; and tracheophytes, which have a water transport mechanism within them to feed and nourish themselves, and are large, like large trees and plants that contain flowers for their reproduction.
The fungi kingdom
It gathers common fungi, which feed on nutrients present in decomposing matter. They live in the shade and humidity, and have high resistance to heat and aridity, thanks to the spores they develop. They are generally parasitic organisms that feed on plants, animals and humans. Some known fungi are:
- the huitlacoche (edible).
- penicillin fungus (medicinal).
- black truffle (edible).
- human candida (present in humans).
- black mold (present in abandoned buildings, highly toxic).
The monera kingdom
It is the one that is composed of microscopic and unicellular organisms, nourished by photosynthesis or absorption of nutrients, reproduced by binary fission (asexual reproduction, which is the duplication of DNA and division of the cytoplasm). This kingdom is made up of bacteria that cause disease.
The protoctist kingdom
It studies microscopic and multicellular organisms, which can move and are larger than bacteria. This division contains chlorophyll, they comply with the photosynthesis process and are aquatic. This kingdom is not part of the other three, since most protist organisms have no affinity for them, but there are others that do, such as algae and mucous fungi.
Essential functions of botany
Mainly its objective is the analysis of the four kingdoms that make it up. It allows us to know the salutiferous or deadly properties that plants enjoy; and today it has important applications in home economics, agriculture, pharmacology, the arts, and therapeutics. This he does through various study techniques.
Description
One of the main functions of the concept of botany is the description of plants. For this there is descriptive botany, also called phytography, which does so through taxonomy (which is responsible for classifying them) and the enumeration of them within each group to which it belongs. In it, the characteristic terminology of botany is used, which describes exactly the plants or organisms that are being studied.
Classification
Taxonomy is applied within botany, which classifies and gives them nomenclature. Each group that has not been classified is called a lineage, and the taxonomy places them in categories in a hierarchical order.
The classification within the meaning of botany, is composed of the following taxa or blocks that make up the lineages: kingdom, division (sub-), class (sub-), order (sub-), family (tribe), genus (section), species and subspecies (variety and form, if applicable).
For example, the taxa of a carnivorous plant would be the following:
- Kingdom: Plantae.
- Division: Magnoliophyta.
- Class: Magnoliopsida.
- Order: Caryophyllales.
- Family: Droseraceae.
- Genus: Dionaea.
- Species: Dionaea muscipula.
Functioning
The definition of botany also includes the study of the functioning of the tissues and organs that make up plants, and this is done by plant physiology, which studies the chemical and physical processes in them. They fulfill four main processes, which are: photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration and digestion.
1. Photosynthesis is the process that takes place only in the green part of the plants, when they receive sunlight or some other source, which has ingredients (carbon dioxide, which are absorbed by the leaves, and water, which they absorb from the root) to produce their food.
2. Perspiration occurs through the leaves, and in this process the plants lose a lot of water, but the excess of it does not allow CO2 to enter the plant through the stomata or pores, a process necessary to produce sugars.
3. Breathing, which they do through the leaves. During the day, during the photosynthesis process, the plant absorbs CO2 and releases oxygen; and at night, it absorbs oxygen and releases CO2, but to a lesser extent.
4. In digestion, the plant food is the starch produced during photosynthesis, and it does so by degrading it so that the plant can absorb it, this process occurs in any part of it.
Distribution
In the botanical world, there is a division called geobotany, in charge of studying the habitat of plants in the world, their geographical distribution, and the reason for such distribution.
In it, some inferences are taken into account according to the geographical distribution of plant taxa, and according to these premises, geobotany has its own disciplines:
1. Where
- Chorology (descriptive), which establishes that the different species are not distributed randomly.
- Areography (analytical), which analyzes the topological characteristics of the area.
2. why
- Paleophytogeography (history), which reconstructs the distribution based on the monitoring of its evolution.
3. How
- Phytocenology (structure and dynamism), analyzes the causes and characteristics of the grouping of plant communities based on their ecological affinity.
4. How and why
- Phytoecology (adaptability to the environment), studies the distribution of the current conditions in which it lives.
Relations between organisms
There are three divisions that are responsible for studying the relationships of species belonging to the different kingdoms of botany and other organisms or living beings: ecology, phylogenetic classification and ethnobotany.
- Ecology studies the relationships between them and other living things, and how the environment affects the location, distribution and quantity of these organisms.
- The phylogenetic classification performs a categorization of the species according to evolutionary proximity relationships between them.
- Ethnobotany studies human relationships with the environment of the plant kingdom.
History of botany
Dating back to the 8th century BC, it was defined in classical Greece, and continued its development during the time when the Roman Empire ruled. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus (371-287 BC), considered the father of botany, wrote on the history of plants, while the Romans contributed to the field of applied botany. The naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) made extensive publications on plants in his volumes of the encyclopedia Naturalis Historia.
During the Middle Ages, botany was consolidated as a scientific discipline, and thanks to the advances of the time, various contributions were developed, such as expeditions or the botanical garden. Joachim Jung (1587-1657), a German naturalist, made exact observations of plants and was the founder of scientific language.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) with his theories of evolution influenced the classification of plants. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of the disciplines in force today were gestated that helped to study this kingdom with greater clarity, to finally reach modern botany, whose science includes great knowledge and discoveries of current botany.
What is a botanical garden
A botanical garden is a space dedicated to the conservation and study of the various plant species that exist, which can be visited by the general public for recreational or academic purposes.
The objectives of these spaces are to conserve species, which may include those that are threatened or in danger of extinction; the investigation of them; teaching, since through them, the population can know what botany is, which studies botany, the kingdoms of botany and some other consideration, characteristic of botany; educate citizens to sensitize them about the importance of conservation; and tourism, since there is an interest in ecotourism in the population, for which a botanical garden is an excellent option.
How to study botany in Mexico
In order to study botany, careers related to it must be chosen, such as:
- Agricultural Engineering (specializing in plant breeding).
- Biology (specialization in botany or plant biology).
- Forestry and Natural Environment Engineering (specialization in botany).
- Forestry Engineering (specialization in forestry).
In Mexico there are careers in Agronomic Engineering, Forest Engineering and other related engineering: Agribusiness, Agroindustrial, Agroforestry, Parasitologist Agronomist, Horticultural Agronomist, Agrobiology, Agrobiotechnology, Plant Agronomist, Forest Sciences, Agroforestry, among others.
There is also a Bachelor's Degree in Biology, Experimental, Integrative Biology of Biodiversity and Conservation, Biology with Emphasis on Ecology and Environment, among others.
In addition, there are various related courses, such as the creation of greenhouses, mushroom production, organic fertilizers, hydroponic technology, herbalism, artisan terrariums, among other topics of botanical interest.
