Introduction
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  • Botany is the branch of biological science which focuses on the study of plants and plant life.
  • The word botany is derived from the Greek word "botanikos," meaning "of herbs”
  • Plants are an essential component of all ecosystems, and botany contributes significantly to the basic understanding of essential processes that affect ecosystems and natural environments
  • Plants are essential to the lives of humans, providing all food either directly or indirectly as well as breathable oxygen.
  • Botany is the scientific study of plants:
    • How plants function?
    • What they look like?
    • How they are related to each other?
    • Where they grow?
    • How people make use of plants?
    • How plants evolved?
  • Botany is considered to be one of the oldest sciences as it began with the effort of early humans to identify edible, poisonous, and medicinal plants
    • The study of botany covers plants, algae, and fungi
    • ◆ It also includes following areas:
    • ◆Growth and reproduction
    • ◆Structure
    • ◆Metabolism
    • ◆Development
    • ◆Chemical properties

The main areas of Botany
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Plant anatomy: the structure of plants
Plant physiology: the function of parts of the plant
Plant taxonomy: the classification of plants
Plant ecology: the interactions of plants and other species
Genetics: the study of inheritance
Economic botany: the practical uses of plants and plant products.

Plants
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The word ‘Plant’ encompasses a wide range of living organisms, all of which belong to the kingdom Plantae that
  • Produce food from sunlight and inorganic matter by the process of photosynthesis.
  • Have rigid cell walls containing cellulose.

Characteristics of Plants
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· Following are the characteristics of plants:
  • Eukaryotic (true nucleus) organisms.
  • Plants are unable to move on their own, mostly being rooted in one place.
  • They synthesize their own food by the process of photosynthesis.
  • Indeterminate growth.
  • Their cells have cell walls composed mainly of cellulose.
  • Their cells contain Chlorophyll which enables plants to convert energy from the sun into food.
  • Their cells usually have large vacuoles.
  • Plants store their food as starch.

Parts of a Plant
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· The parts of a plant can be divided into two groups:
  • Internal Plant Parts
  • External Plant Parts
Internal Plant Parts

· Internal plant parts composed of following parts:
  • Cells: Cells are the basic structural and physiological units of plants.
  • Tissues: Plant tissues are organized groups of similar cells that work together to perform a specific function.
External Plant Parts

· External plant parts are composed of following elements:
  • Roots: Roots typically originate from the lower portion of a plant, responsible for anchoring the plant to the ground and extracting water and minerals from the soil.
  • Stems: Stems are structures which support buds and leaves and serve as conduits for carrying water, minerals, and sugars.
  • Leaves: The principal function of leaves is to absorb the sunlight needed to manufacture plant sugars through a process called Photosynthesis.
  • Flowers: All flowers are responsible for one important function: reproduction.
  • Fruits: Fruit consists of fertilized, mature ovules (seeds), plus the ovary wall.
  • Seeds: A seed contains all of the genetic information needed to develop into an entire plant.