Botanists are people who study botany (the science of studying plant biology) and conduct research

base on their studies.

Apart from plants, they also study fungi and algae.

Conducting research on fossilized plants is the job of those botanists who have specialized
knowledge in paleobotany.

Botanists possess specific knowledge in ethnobotany which is the study of the use of plants by
different cultures.

Identification and classification of new species of plants are some of the important segments of a
botanist’s work. Scientific study of plants helps us to comprehend the effect of plants on human and
animals. Their study also works to determine the medicinal effect of any plant. Armed with modern
scientific equipment, botanists conduct studies into the genetic structure of specific plants. To
investigate the effects of various environmental factors like temperature, sunlight, soil and rainfall on
plants is a part of a botanist’s profession.

By using biochemical and molecular techniques, botanists also examine the nature of evolution of
plants. Based on their findings, they prepare scientific reports and papers. They play a key role in
developing drugs and other products from plants. Their study plays a vital role in controlling the
factors of pollution in nature.

What follows is a collection of the biographies, timelines, trivia and other information about the
professional and personal lives of some of the world’s most famous botanists.
Read more at http://www.thefamouspeople.com/botanists.php#JoPuOJZWflCdwL0x.99

Agnes Arber (British botanist)

In 1950, she penned the book entitled ‘The Natural Philosophy of Plant Form’ became one of the
most renowned works of this remarkable plant morphologist. The book focusses on the transition
from research to the establishment of a philosophy. In this book she introduces the ‘partial-shoot
theory of the leaf’. The theory says that each component of a plant is either a shoot or a partial-
shoot.

Albrecht von Haller (Swiss) Albrecht von Haller was a

renowned botanist of the 18th century and also regarded as the Father of modern
physiology.

Birbal Sahni was an Indian palaeobotanist who founded the Birbal Sahni Institute of
Palaeobotany in Lucknow. (He was the founder of the Institute of Palaeobotany which was
later renamed the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in his honor. The institute promotes
higher learning in the field of plant fossil research and works in close coordination with
various organizations such as Geological Survey of India, Physical Research Laboratory, Oil
and Natural Gas Commission, Oil India Limited, Coal India Limited, and Coal Mine Planning
and Design Institute.)

Robert Brown (British) is a renowned botanist, famous for having laid the foundation for what
is today popularly called the ‘Brownian Motion’.
When Robert Brown was probing into the characteristics of a plant called Clarkia pulchella,
he observed the microscopic pollen grains that had been submerged in water. The botanist
found tiny particles that had been discharged by the pollens, moving around in a random
motion. He repeated this experiment, this time using particles that made up inorganic matter.
The same was observed, and hence he inferred that the phenomenon, now famous as the
‘Brownian motion’, was not unique to living organisms.
Read more at http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-brown-
6517.php#32SFMe5cHRvM5m5k.99

Famous Botanists
Theophrastus (371 BC - 287 BC), ancient Greek scientist: father of botany.

Abu Hanifa ad-Dinawari (828 AD -896 AD) Persian-Muslim polymath, astronomer and
botanist: founder of Arabic botany.

Ibn al-Baitar (1188–1248): Andalusian-Arab botanist and author of one of the largest
botanical encyclopedias.

Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566), German physician: wrote about the medicinal uses of
plants.

Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703), English naturalist: using an early microscope discovered
cells in living plant tissue.

Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778): Swedish botanist, the father of modern taxonomy.

David Douglas (1799–1834): Scottish botanical explorer of North America and China,
who imported many ornamental plants into Europe
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778–1841), Swiss botanist: originated the idea of
"Nature's war", which influenced Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882), English naturalist and father of evolution theory by
natural selection: showed that orchid's beauty was honed by natural selection to
attract insect cross-pollinators.

Gregor Johann Mendel (1822–1884), Austrian scientist: father of genetics for his
study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants.

Richard Spruce (1817–1893): English botanist and explorer who carried out a
detailed study of the Amazon flora.

Luther Burbank (1849–1926): American botanist, horticulturist, and a pioneer in

agricultural science.

Charles Sprague Sargent (1841–1927): American botanist, the first director of the
Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.

George Washington Carver (1864 - 1943), American Botanist: developed peanut

crops and products; developed methods of crop rotation.

Barbara McClintock (1902 - 1992), American botanist: genetic structure of maize.

George Ledyard Stebbins (1906–2000), American botanist and geneticist: developed

a comprehensive synthesis of plant evolution incorporating genetics.
Isabella Abbott (1919–2010), Hawaiian ethnobotanist: world's leading expert on
Hawaiian seaweeds.
Plants hearing and communication:

The interconnectedness between soil, microbes, plants, pests, and ultimately human
health, is a fascinating area of study.

With the rapid evolution of technology, much of what used to be common-sense farming
and gardening knowledge was lost. However, science is starting to reaffirm age-old
wisdoms, showing that nature is far smarter than we may have given it credit for.

For example, we now know that plants are capable of communicating with each other
via extensive and complex networks, and can warn each other of the presence of pests.
In response, the plants will mount natural defenses against the infestation.

This is an important part of sustainable agriculture. We don't need to combat pests with
chemical warfare... We just have to create the optimal growing conditions so the plant
can respond with its own defenses.
We're also starting to realize how microorganisms in soil and the human gut are
interconnected, and work to create health in very similar ways.

Researchers have also discovered that plants can actually "hear" when they're being
chewed on, and in response, they can launch a chemical defense to minimize the
destruction. In truth, whether we're eating meat, fish, fowl, or plants, we're taking
sustenance from something that is (or was) very much alive...

How Plants Hear

As reported by IFL Science,1 when a bug such as a caterpillar chews on a plant's leaf,
the plant actually "hears" the vibrations of the chewing, and produces a phytochemical
to defend itself from further harm.
I never realized that this happened but after reading the study, I went out to my edible
landscape and found many of the plants had been nibbled on, but just in one small
section of leaves. The rest of the leaves were fine. This seemed to confirm the
observation of the study.

The study was published in the journal Oecologia2 and involved recording plant
responses to vibrational sounds by placing reflective tape on a leaf. Using a laser beam,
they were able to measure the leaf's response when a caterpillar chewed on it.
They also played a recording of the near-inaudible vibrational sound of a caterpillar
chewing, and interestingly enough, plants that had been previously exposed to these
feeding sounds released higher amounts of chemicals that deters bugs.
Even more interesting, these phytochemicals are also what give a plant many of its
medicinal qualities, such as glucosinolates, which have anti-cancer properties, and
other antioxidants. When a plant has increased levels of these chemicals, insects will
not feed on it.

In a nutshell, the vibrational sound of a bug chewing on a plant's leaf causes a change
in the cellular metabolism of the plant, creating chemicals that repel the attacker.

Many view pests as an unavoidable nuisance very similar to disease. But actually they
serve a valuable role and destroy sick or damaged plants. This is why healthy plants
typically don't have a problem with pests.

Interestingly, this research even suggests that minor pest attacks may play an important
role in encouraging plant growth that have higher levels of (to humans) important
nutrients! In a press release,3 one of the researchers stated:
"This research also opens the window of plant behavior a little wider, showing that
plants have many of the same responses to outside influences that animals do, even
though the responses look different."

How Plants Communicate

As mentioned earlier, plants also communicate with other plants—even with plants of
other species—through a complex underground network that includes:

1. The plants' rhizosphere (root ball)

2. Aerial emissions (volatile gasses emitted by the plants)

3. Mycelial networks in the soil

These three systems work together forming a "plant internet," if you will, where
information about each plant's status is constantly exchanged. One of the organisms
responsible for this amazing biochemical highway is a type of fungus called
mycorrhizae.

The name mycorrhiza literally means fungus root.4 These fungi form a symbiotic
relationship with the plant, colonizing the roots and sending extremely fine filaments far
out into the soil that act as root extensions.
Not only do these networks sound the alarm about invaders, but the filaments are more
effective in nutrient and water absorption than the plant roots themselves—mycorrhizae
increase the nutrient absorption of the plant 100 to 1,000 times.5
In one thimbleful of healthy soil, you can find several MILES of fungal filaments, all
releasing powerful enzymes that help dissolve tightly bound soil nutrients, such as
organic nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron.
This is one of the major reasons why tilling the soil is deleterious to gardening or
farming as it damages these fragile fungal filaments. The last thing any gardener or
farmer should be doing is tilling the soil.

That is one of the reasons why wood chips are so useful as they not only eliminate
tilling but effectively feeds the fungi. One of the best things you can do for your garden
is to put a four inch layer of wood chips (not bark) around your plants to encourage this
fungal growth and attract earthworms so they can create vermicompost.

Plant Communications Network Combats Pest Infestation

Previous research6 has shown that when a plant becomes infested with a pest like
aphids for example, it warns surrounding plants of the attack via this network of
mycorrhizal fungi.
This "heads up" gives the other plants time to mount their chemical defenses in order to
repel the aphids. Mycorrhizae fungi can even connect plants of different species,
perhaps allowing interspecies communication.7
The study in question used bean plants and aphids, and in this case, the alerted bean
plants deployed not only aphid-repelling chemicals, but also produced other chemicals
that attract wasps, which are aphids' natural predators!

In bean plants where the researchers had removed the mycorrhizae connecting them
together, the plants quickly succumbed to the infestation, presumably because they
didn't receive the warning to mount their defenses.

Another 2012 article in the Journal of Chemical Ecology8 describes mycorrhizae-

induced resistance as part of plants' systemic "immune response," protecting them from
pathogens, herbivores, and parasitic plants. And in 2010, Song et al published a report
about the interplant communication of tomato plants, in which they wrote: 9
"CMNs [common mycorrhizal networks] may function as a plant-plant underground
communication conduit whereby disease resistance and induced defense signals can
be transferred between the healthy and pathogen-infected neighboring plants,
suggesting that plants can 'eavesdrop' on defense signals from the pathogen-
challenged neighbors through CMNs to activate defenses before being attacked
themselves."
More than 90 percent of plant species have these naturally occurring symbiotic
relationships with mycorrhizae, but in order for these CMNs to exist, the soil must be
undisturbed. Erosion, tillage, cultivation, compaction, and other human activities simply
destroy these beneficial fungi networks, and they are slow to colonize once
disrupted.10 Therefore, cultivated or tilled farmed plants don't develop mycorrhizae and
are typically less healthy, as a result.
Healthy Soil Makes for Healthy People

Mycorrhizae aren't the only organisms harmed by our modern chemical- and
technology-heavy agricultural methods. Soil and plant health also depends on many
other microbes and critters living in the soil. This includes bacteria, fungi, protozoa,
microscopic roundworms called nematodes, and earth worms.

We now understand that it is the cooperation between these microorganisms—the soil's

biome—and the plants' roots that is ultimately responsible for allowing the plant to
absorb nutrients from the soil in which it's grown. Insects and weeds also have their
place. They only really reach "pest" status when the balance is shifted in such a way
that they're able to get the upper hand. Otherwise, insects actually serve a very
important role as nature's "garbage collectors." Thanks to their specialized digestive
systems, they remove that which is not fit for us to eat—things we cannot digest.
Once you start to connect all these dots, you begin to understand the depth of nature's
intelligence, which always strives to maintain balance. This balance is what leads to
healthy soils, healthy plants, a healthy environment, and, ultimately, healthy bodies. You
are beautifully "plugged into" this system. We, as caretakers of the earth, have the free
will to either protect and nurture it or destroy it. The fact that if we choose to poison the
earth, we poison ourselves, can be seen as an expression of nature's self-regulatory
capacity... Since soil health connects to everything up the food chain, our health
therefore originates in the soils in which our food is grown.

Besides deepening our understanding of the importance of nurturing and maintaining

healthy soil microbes, research into the plant kingdom really helps explain why synthetic
chemicals are unnecessary. It also tells us that most of our modern agricultural
"advances" are actually killing the very foundation of food production and human
health—the microbiome in the soil. I believe that as responsible stewards, it is our duty
to act on such information, and to make the necessary changes to ensure mankind's
survival on this planet. The arguments for organic farming go far beyond nostalgic
notions of preserving a way of life; it's about self-preservation!

Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands...

If you support and nurture the microbiome in soil, it in turn will provide you with good
nutrition and optimal health through the food grown in it. Three basic principles of
biological gardening that will make your soil hospitable for beneficial microorganisms,
which in turn will allow plants to flourish, are the following:

1. Correct nutrient balance in your soil, ideally through simple and inexpensive methods
like applying woodchips. Once established, the chips will optimize soil pH and minerals
without the need for testing or expensive fertilizers. It will also radically decrease the time
you spend weeding, increase fungal networks in the soil and attract earthworms to further
improve your soil.
 2. Soil inoculation. This can be done by adding soil probiotics or basic fermentation products
such as compost tea. This will generate and support the proliferation of beneficial bacteria
much in the same way you can boost the probiotics in your fermented vegetables by using
a starter culture. I have learned that compost tea used alone is relatively worthless. It
works far better if you have a cover of woodchips that help preserve the organisms in the
tea and help them to colonize the soil.

3. Provide a hospitable habitat for microbes to thrive in. Once you've added soil probiotics,
the microbes need a proper "home" to hang out and multiply in. Biochar is excellent for
this, and research11 shows that the addition of biochar can more than double a plant's
yield.
Besides microorganisms such as bacteria, earthworms also play an important role
in maintaining the health of the soil. Pesticides, which are commonly sprayed on
crops to protect them against being ravaged by pests, have a devastating effect on
earthworms, which is yet another reason to avoid chemical gardening. Research
shows that earthworms exposed to pesticides grow to only half their normal
weight. Pesticide exposure also has a detrimental impact on their ability to
reproduce, and untreated soils can contain as much as two to three times as many
earthworms as treated soils.

4. Proper food (fertilizer) for the microorganisms to consume and thrive. Note that it's
the microbiome that you need to feed, not the plant directly. The microbes in turn will then
feed the proper nutrients to the plants grown in that soil. Without these bioorganisms, your
plants cannot get the nutrients they need. The better you're able to fertilize the microbes,
the healthier your plants will be, and the fewer plant diseases, pest infestations and weed
problems you'll have as well.

Helpful Resources

A whole host of environmental and human health problems could be corrected by

addressing how we grow our food. Therefore, I cannot encourage you to support the
small family farms in your local area strongly enough. They, and by extension you, are
part of the solution. Here are some great resources to obtain wholesome food that
supports not only you but also the environment:
1. Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA)
2. Farmers' Markets -- A national listing of farmers' markets.
3. Local Harvest -- This Web site will help you find farmers' markets, family farms, and other
sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed
meats, and many other goodies.
4. Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals -- The Eat Well Guide is a
free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms,
stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.
5. Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) -- CISA is dedicated to
sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.
6. FoodRoutes -- The FoodRoutes "Find Good Food" map can help you connect with local
farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a
listing for local farmers, CSAs, and markets near you.
Plant adaptation
Plants have adaptations to help them survive (live and grow) in different areas.
Adaptations are special features that allow a plant or animal to live in a particular
place or habitat. These adaptations might make it very difficult for the plant to
survive in a different place. This explains why certain plants are found in one area,
but not in another. For example, you wouldn't see a cactus living in the Arctic. Nor
would you see lots of really tall trees living in grasslands.

Desert Plant Adaptations

 Some plants, called succulents, store water in their stems or leaves;

 Some plants have no leaves or small seasonal leaves that only grow after it
rains. The lack of leaves helps reduce water loss during
photosynthesis. Leafless plants conduct photosynthesis in their green stems.
 Long root systems spread out wide or go deep into the ground to absorb water;
 Some plants have a short life cycle, germinating in response to rain, growing,
flowering, and dying within one year. These plants can evade drought.
 Leaves with hair help shade the plant, reducing water loss. Other plants have
leaves that turn throughout the day to expose a minimum surface area to the
heat.
 Spines to discourage animals from eating plants for water;
 Waxy coating on stems and leaves help reduce water loss.
 Flowers that open at night lure pollinators who are more likely to be active
during the cooler night.
 Slower growing requires less energy. The plants don't have to make as much
food and therefore do not lose as much water.

Temperate Grassland (Prairie) Plant Adaptations

 During a fire, while above-ground portions of grasses may perish, the root
portions survive to sprout again
 Some prairie trees have thick bark to resist fire
 Prairie shrubs readily resprout after fire
 Roots of prairie grasses extend deep into the ground to absorb as much
moisture as they can
 Extensive root systems prevent grazing animals from pulling roots out of the
ground
 Prairie grasses have narrow leaves which lose less water than broad leaves
 Grasses grow from near their base, not from tip, thus are not permanently
damaged from grazing animals or fire
 Many grasses take advantage of exposed, windy conditions and are wind
pollinated
  Soft stems enable prairie grasses to bend in the wind

Taiga Plant Adaptations

 many trees are evergreen so that plants can photosynthesize right away when
temperatures rise
 many trees have needle-like leaves which shape loses less water and sheds
snow more easily than broad leaves
 waxy coating on needles prevent evaporation
 needles are dark in color allowing more solar heat to be absorbed
 many trees have branches that droop downward to help shed excess snow to
keep the branches from breaking

Tundra Plant Adaptations

 Tundra plants are small (usually less than 12 inches tall) and low-growing due
to lack of nutrients, because being close to the ground helps keep the plants
from freezing, and because the roots cannot penetrate the permafrost.
 Plants are dark in color—some are even red—this helps them absorb solar heat.
 Some plants are covered with hair which helps keep them warm.
 Some plants grow in clumps to protect one another from the wind and cold.
 Some plants have dish-like flowers that follow the sun, focusing more solar
heat on the center of the flower, helping the plant stay warm.

Plant Adaptations in Water

 underwater leaves and stems are flexible to move with water currents
 some plants have air spaces in their stems to help hold the plant up in the water
 submerged plants lack strong water transport system (in stems); instead water,
nutrients, and dissolved gases are absorbed through the leaves directly from the
water.
 roots and root hairs reduced or absent; roots only needed for anchorage, not for
absorption of nutrients and water
 some plants have leaves that float atop the water, exposing themselves to the
sunlight
 in floating plants chlorophyll is restricted to upper surface of leaves (part that
the sunlight will hit) and the upper surface is waxy to repel water
 Some plants produce seeds that can float
Tropical Rainforest Plant Adaptations

 drip tips and waxy surfaces allow water to run off, to discourage growth of
bacteria and fungi
 buttresses and prop and stilt roots help hold up plants in the shallow soil
 some plants climb on others to reach the sunlight
 some plants grow on other plants to reach the sunlight
 flowers on the forest floor are designed to lure animal pollinators since there is
relatively no wind on the forest floor to aid in pollination
 smooth bark and smooth or waxy flowers speed the run off of water
 plants have shallow roots to help capture nutrients from the top level of soil.
 many bromeliads are epiphytes (plants that live on other plants); instead of
collecting water with roots they collect rainwater into a central reservoir from
which they absorb the water through hairs on their leaves
 epiphytic orchids have aerial roots that cling to the host plant, absorb minerals,
and absorb water from the atmosphere

Temperate Rain Forest Plant Adaptations

 epiphytes such as mosses and ferns grow atop other plants to reach light.
 cool temperatures lead to slow decomposition but seedlings grow on "nurse
logs" to take advantage of the nutrients from the decomposing fallen logs.
 trees can grow very tall due to amount of precipitation.

Temperate Deciduous Forest Plant Adaptations

 wildflowers grow on forest floor early in the spring before trees leaf-out and
shade the forest floor
 many trees are deciduous (they drop their leaves in the autumn, and grow new
ones in spring). Most deciduous trees have thin, broad, light-weight leaves that
can capture a lot of sunlight to make a lot of food for the tree in warm weather;
when the weather gets cooler, the broad leaves cause too much water loss and
can be weighed down by too much snow, so the tree drops its leaves. New
ones will grow in the spring.
 trees have thick bark to protect against cold winters