Botany
Botany is the study of plants. Plants are classified into these
major catagories: flowering plants, conifers, ferns and fern allies,
bryophytes, algae, fungi, and lichens.
There are many ways to study plants. The modern science of botany developed out of medicine, beginning with the identification of plants used for medicinal purposes. The need to identify, describe, name, and classify plants, i.e., to catalog them, is basic to botany, because without this, one would not be able to communicate with others about specific kinds of plants. This aspect of botany is called taxonomy or systematics. The need to study and accurately describe the structure of plants led to the development of fields of morphology and anatomy. To understand how plants grow, reproduce, and live in their surroundings, botany has differentiated the disciplines of cytology, the study of the structure and reproduction of plant cells; physiology, the study of chemical and physical processes of plant life, such as photosynthesis, respiration, and differentiation; ecology, the study of relationships between plants and their environment; and plant geography, the study of the distribution of plants. Paleobotany is the study of fossil plants.
There are other fields of botany specializing in the study of particular plant groups. Algology or phycology is the study of algae, mycology of fungi, bryology of mosses and liverworts, and pteridology of ferns.
Illinois Endangered and Threatened Plants - Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board
Most INHS botanical research is listed in our
Annual Reports.
See our Publications Catalog for articles published at INHS.
INHS botanist Dr. Ken Robertson has a wealth of botanically related information on his home page.
Some past articles published in INHS Reports:
The Role of Insect Flower Herbivory in Native and Restored Prairies. Winter 2002
Effects of Exotic Plants on Bird Nesting Success. Autumn 2001
Biotic Inventory of Kyrgyz Grasslands. Autumn 2001
Land-cover Classification for Forests. Autumn 2001
Species Spotlight: Poison Ivy. Summer 2001
INHS Inventories Smoky Mountains Flora. Summer 2001
Species Spotlight: Bald Cypress. Fall 2000
Exotic Vegetation in Illinois Wetlands. Fall 2000
Environmentally Friendly Gardening. March-April 2000
Plant Stress--Its Relationship to Arthropod Pests in Urban Landscapes. March-April 2000
Species Spotlight: Tulip Tree. January-February 2000
Community-Level Parameters as Indicators of Restoration Success in Fire-Effects Studies. November-December 1999
How Prescribed Fire and Management Affects Plants and Animals in Central Illinois' Oak-Hickory Forests. November-December 1999
Fen Wetland Restoration in Northeastern Illinois. November-December 1999
Restoration of Bottomland Forests in the Cache River Watershed. November-December 1999
Prairie Restoration Research at the Savanna Army Depot. November-December 1999
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie: History and Current Research. November-December 1999
Restoration Ecology and Research at the Illinois Natural History Survey. November-December 1999
The Role of Fire in Maintaining Plant Diversity in Oak Woodland Communities. May-June 1999
INHS Plant Collection. March-April 1999
The Naturalist's Apprentice: Dyeing With Plants. March-April 1999
Forest Regeneration and Understory Dynamics Following the 1993 Flood on the Illinois River. January-February 1999
Grassland Habitats in Illinois. July-August 1998
Species Spotlight: Bird's-eye Primrose. March-April 1998
Fire, Savanna Restoration, and Avian Populations in Midwestern Oak Forests. January-February 1998
White Grub Management Options in Turfgrass. January-February 1998
Species Spotlight: The American Lotus. July-August 1997
Species Spotlight: The Shooting Star. May-June 1996
Botany of the Savanna Army Depot. March-April 1997
Wetland Restoration at the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve. January-February 1996
Species Spotlight: Witch Hazel. January-February 1996
Plants of the Oakwood Bottoms. November-December 1995
Flooding Effects on Urban and Community Trees. July-August 1995
The Plants of Site M: a True Macrosite. May-June 1995
Species Spotlight: The Pitcher Plant. January-February 1995
For more information, see the INHS Botanical Collection Page