Botany, also called
plant science(
s) or
plant biology, is the science of
plant life and a branch of
biology. A
botanist or
plant scientist is a
scientist who specializes in this field of study. The term "botany" comes from the
Ancient Greek word (
botane) meaning "
pasture", "grass", or "
fodder"; is in turn derived from (
boskein), "to feed" or "to graze". Traditionally, botany has also included the study of
fungi and
algae by
mycologists and
phycologists respectively, with the study of these three groups of organisms remaining within the sphere of interest of the
International Botanical Congress. Nowadays, botanists study approximately 400,000
species of living
organisms of which some 260,000 species are
vascular plants and about 248,000 are
flowering plants.
