Botany: Home Page

Botany

The Earth is host to more than 400,000 documented species of plant life. In turn, our planet depends upon these plants to nurture and sustain all living things. Plants play a critical role in the complex food web. Powered by light from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and nutrients from the soil, plants pass on this energy to the life forms that consume them. And for the human species, plants bring aesthetic pleasure, delighting the senses with their beauty and variety.

Botany is one of the oldest branches of biology. It is concerned with the scientific study of plants and other similar organisms. Within the discipline there are many areas of study including Paleobotany (the study of plant history through fossils), Physiology (the study of plant cells and tissues), Pteridology (the study of ferns), and Plant Pathology (the study of diseases in plants).

This area of the NBII brings together a wide range of botanical resources available on the Web. Information is added regularly, and users are encouraged to submit suggestions for additional content or links by clicking on the "Contact Us" button at left.

Past and Future: History of Botany; Paleobotany; Plant Exploration
Form and Function: Genetics; Cytology; Anatomy; Morphology; Physiology; Pathology; Ecology
Focus on Species: Algae; Fungi; Mosses and Liverworts; Ferns and Fern Allies; Gymnosperms; Angiosperms
Applied Plant Sciences: Agronomy; Economic Botany; Forestry; Horticulture
Gardening: General Information; Annuals and Perennials; Vegetables, Herbs, Organic; Wildflowers; Native Plants; Water Gardens; Composting; Water Conserving Gardens; Invasive Plant Species and Weeds; Disease and Pest Management
Collections and Organizations: Collections; Organizations
Botany for Kids: Science Projects
General Reference Sources: General Plant Resources; Taxonomies; Plant Identification Tools; General Plant Databases; GeoSpatial Information; General Image Collections; Virtual Biology Textbooks; Websites with Extensive Botanical Links; Dictionaries, Glossaries, Encyclopedias; Metadata

Biological Disciplines
Botany | Fisheries & Aquatic Resources | Genetic Biodiversity
Reptiles & Amphibians | Systematics / Scientific Names

This NBII site is developed and maintained by the
Center for Biological Informatics of the U.S. Geological Survey

Text-only
NBII Disclaimer and Privacy Statement | Accessibility