The scientific study of plants, including their structure, growth, and relationships.
From Late Latin “botanica” and Greek “botanikē (tekhnē),” meaning “plant (art or science).” It comes from “botanē,” which originally meant “plant, pasture, or grass.”
Botany began as the practical art of knowing which plants could feed or heal you, long before it became lab science. The word still carries that ancient survival skill inside it—plants as knowledge that keeps humans alive.
Botany, like many sciences, developed within male‑dominated institutions that restricted women’s access to formal education and professional societies. Women often contributed through field collection, illustration, and informal research without being recognized as full practitioners of botany.
Treat botany as a field open to all genders and avoid writing history as if only men shaped it. When teaching or summarizing the field, include diverse botanists rather than a single‑gender canon.
Acknowledge women and gender‑minority botanists whose work underpins modern plant science, including collectors, illustrators, and taxonomists who were historically listed only as ‘assistants’ or not at all.
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