Botany is the science that studies plants: their characteristics, their origin, their evolution, … everything, even the relationships they have with other living things and the positive and negative effects they have on the environment. Therefore, if we were to explain what botanists do, we would have to say something like: studying algae, fungi, cyanobacteria, and of course plants, because in fact all these organisms are related.

We have to distinguish between two types: pure botany, which is responsible for the study of nature, and applied botany, whose research is of great help to agricultural and forestry technicians, as well as the pharmaceutical industry.

Although it is easy to confuse horticulture with botany today, or even think that they are synonymous, the truth is that horticulture as we know it is relatively modern. It is only recently that people have been growing plants to enjoy their beauty. In fact, the first evidence of ornamental gardens is in some Egyptian paintings from 1500. But botany is much more “ancient”.

As I said at the beginning, humans have had a close relationship with plants from the very beginning. We’ve always included them in our diet: not only do they help us deworm internally, but they also help us to improve our health… and our stomachs. But since no one is born knowing, knowledge about different plants is passed down from generation to generation, at first it was transmitted through conversations and gestures, and later, with the invention of writing in 4000 BC, sooner or later we started naming the plant life that was (and is) good for us and those that are dangerous.

Back then, you could not have imagined how far we would go. The truth is that it is hard for modern humans to think or imagine how we will treat plants in the future.

Modern botany began to develop in classical Greece and continued during the Roman Empire. The one who is considered the father of botany, Theophrastus, left two very important works: On the History of the Plantation and On the Causis Plantarum. The Romans contributed primarily to the knowledge of botany that was used in agriculture, but it is estimated that they recorded between 1300 and 1400 plants during their time.

After the fall of Rome and especially with the advent of the Middle Ages, in which the Church was the main ruler, much of the knowledge that had been acquired before then was ignored. Fortunately, this did not last long: In the 17th century, with the work of important scientists such as Descartes, Galileo or Kepler, modern science emerged and European naturalists saw an ideal opportunity to continue studying plants and the environment in which they live.

Carlos Linneo was one of the greats. He is credited with several innovations in taxonomy (i.e., the classification of plants: order, family, genus, species, etc.). After reading Charles Darwin’s The Principle of Natural Selection, he was able to understand them better and conduct a more comprehensive study.

Since 1945, modern botany has become a science that has acquired a great deal of knowledge and that it continues to acquire.