(Study Material) Botany Study Material For AIPMT and State PMT Examination (Historical Evolution of Botany)
Study Material : Botany Study Material For AIPMT and State PMT Examination (Historical Evolution of Botany)
History
Early examples of plant taxonomy occur in the Rigveda, that divides plants into
Vrska (tree), Osadhi (herbs useful to humans) and Virudha (creepers). which are
further subdivided. The Atharvaveda divides plants into eight classes, Visakha
(spreading branches), Manjari (leaves with long clusters), Sthambini (bushy
plants), Prastanavati (which expands); Ekasrnga (those with monopodial growth),
Pratanavati (creeping plants), Amsumati (with many stalks), and Kandini (plants
with knotty joints). The Taittiriya Samhita and classifies the plant kingdom
into vrksa, vana and druma (trees), visakha (shrubs with spreading branches),
sasa (herbs), amsumali (a spreading or deliquescent plant), vratati (climber),
stambini (bushy plant), pratanavati (creeper), and alasala (those spreading on
the ground).
Manusmriti proposed a classification of plants in eight major categories.
Charaka SamhitÄ and Sushruta Samhita and the Vaisesikas also present an
elaborate taxonomy.
Parashara, the author of Vrksayurveda (the science of life of trees), classifies
plants into Dvimatrka (Dicotyledons) and Ekamatrka (Monocotyledons). These are
further classified into Samiganiya (Fabaceae), Puplikagalniya (Rutaceae),
Svastikaganiya (Cruciferae), Tripuspaganiya (Cucurbitaceae), Mallikaganiya (Apocynaceae),
and Kurcapuspaganiya (Asteraceae).
Among the earliest of botanical works in Europe, written around 300 B.C., are
two large treatises by Theophrastus: On the History of Plants (Historia
Plantarum) and On the Causes of Plants. Together these books constitute the most
important contribution to botanical science during antiquity and on into the
Middle Ages. The Roman medical writer Dioscorides provides important evidence on
Greek and Roman knowledge of medicinal plants.
In ancient China, the recorded listing of different plants and herb concoctions
for pharmaceutical purposes spans back to at least the Warring States (481
BC-221 BC). Many Chinese writers over the centuries contributed to the written
knowledge of herbal pharmaceutics.
There was the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) written work of the Huangdi Neijing
and the famous pharmacologist Zhang Zhongjing of the 2nd century. There was also
the 11th century scientists and statesmen Su Song and Shen Kuo, who compiled
treatises on herbal medicine and included the use of mineralogy.
Important medieval works of plant physiology include the Prthviniraparyam of
Udayana, Nyayavindutika of Dharmottara, Saddarsana-samuccaya of Gunaratna, and
Upaskara of Sankaramisra.
In 1665, using an early microscope, Robert Hooke discovered cells in cork, and a
short time later in living plant tissue. The German Leonhart Fuchs, the Swiss
Conrad von Gesner, and the British authors Nicholas Culpeper and John Gerard
published herbals that gave information on the medicinal uses of plants.
In 1754 Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus) devided the plant Kingdom into 25
classes. One, the Cryptogamia, included all the plants with concealed
reproductive parts (algae, fungi, mosses and liverworts and ferns).
Modern botany
Considerable amount of new knowledge today is being generated from studying
model plants like Arabidopsis thaliana. This weedy species in the mustard family
was one of the first plants to have its genome sequenced. The sequencing of the
rice (Oryza sativa) genome and a large international research community have
made rice the de facto cereal/grass/monocot model. Another grass species,
Brachypodium distachyon is also emerging as an experimental model for
understanding the genetic, cellular and molecular biology of temperate grasses.
Other commercially-important staple foods like wheat, maize, barley, rye, pearl
millet and soybean are also having their genomes sequenced. Some of these are
challenging to sequence because they have more than two haploid (n) sets of
chromosomes, a condition known as polyploidy, common in the plant kingdom.
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (a single-celled, green alga) is another plant model
organism that has been extensively studied and provided important insights into
cell biology.
In 1998 the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group published a phylogeny of flowering plants
based on an analysis of DNA sequences from most families of flowering plants. As
a result of this work, major questions such as which families represent the
earliest branches in the genealogy of angiosperms are now understood.
Investigating how plant species are related to each other allows botanists to
better understand the process of evolution in plants.
Among the earliest of botanical works in Europe, written around 300 B.C., are
two large treatises by Theophrastus: On the History of Plants (Historia
Plantarum) and On the Causes of Plants. Together these books constitute the most
important contribution to botanical science during antiquity and on into the
Middle Ages. The Roman medical writer Dioscorides provides important evidence on
Greek and Roman knowledge of medicinal plants.
In ancient China, the recorded listing of different plants and herb concoctions
for pharmaceutical purposes spans back to at least the Warring States (481
BC-221 BC). Many Chinese writers over the centuries contributed to the written
knowledge of herbal pharmaceutics.
There was the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) written work of the Huangdi Neijing
and the famous pharmacologist Zhang Zhongjing of the 2nd century. There was also
the 11th century scientists and statesmen Su Song and Shen Kuo, who compiled
treatises on herbal medicine and included the use of mineralogy.
Important medieval works of plant physiology include the Prthviniraparyam of
Udayana, Nyayavindutika of Dharmottara, Saddarsana-samuccaya of Gunaratna, and
Upaskara of Sankaramisra.
In 1665, using an early microscope, Robert Hooke discovered cells in cork, and a
short time later in living plant tissue. The German Leonhart Fuchs, the Swiss
Conrad von Gesner, and the British authors Nicholas Culpeper and John Gerard
published herbals that gave information on the medicinal uses of plants.
In 1754 Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus) devided the plant Kingdom into 25
classes. One, the Cryptogamia, included all the plants with concealed
reproductive parts (algae, fungi, mosses and liverworts and ferns).
A considerable amount of new knowledge today is being generated from studying
model plants like Arabidopsis thaliana. This weedy species in the mustard family
was one of the first plants to have its genome sequenced. The sequencing of the
rice (Oryza sativa) genome and a large international research community have
made rice the de facto cereal/grass/monocot model. Another grass species,
Brachypodium distachyon is also emerging as an experimental model for
understanding the genetic, cellular and molecular biology of temperate grasses.
Other commercially-important staple foods like wheat, maize, barley, rye, pearl
millet and soybean are also having their genomes sequenced. Some of these are
challenging to sequence because they have more than two haploid (n) sets of
chromosomes, a condition known as polyploidy, common in the plant kingdom.
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (a single-celled, green alga) is another plant model
organism that has been extensively studied and provided important insights into
cell biology.
In 1998 the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group published a phylogeny of flowering plants
based on an analysis of DNA sequences from most families of flowering plants. As
a result of this work, major questions such as which families represent the
earliest branches in the genealogy of angiosperms are now understood.
Investigating how plant species are related to each other allows botanists to
better understand the process of evolution in plants.
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