Welcome to the World of Botany

Posted by Sharon Falsetto Oct 25, 2008

As the new feature writer for botany, I would like to welcome readers to this section! Over the coming months, I will be focusing on a number of topics to help de-mystify the scientific world of plants including how different cultures and indigenous people use plants around the world, various diverse plant ecology systems and the use and profile of a number of medicinal plants and plant species.

I hope to make the world of botany both interesting and less mysterious than before by a series of 'introductions' and 'how to' articles in addition to the more complex and scientific articles. Botany is seen as a complex area of study but it can also be fun and fascinating when we learn how plants, from small wildflowers to huge trees, survive and live in the natural world. A lot more is going on than we may first imagine when we pass a tree or flower and the evolution of the plant kingdom helps explain where plants first came from.

Botany has developed in recent years with the introduction of ethnobotany; although ethnobotany has been around for quite some time, it is only the recent revival of interest in medicinal plants which has brought it once again into the spot light. The brief study of ethnobotany will introduce you to this subject. The current concern of climate change may also have an effect on the plant ecology systems of the world, another area which is involved in the subject of botany.

Plants play an important role in our world and learning to understand them more helps us to protect the environment and prevent the endangerment of plant species from extinction. So enjoy the articles in our section and study botany along with us!