Department of botany home page

Botany is the study of plant life - from microscopic algae to the tallest trees.

Botanists at the Museum study the diversity of plants. Describing and classifying plants is a major part of their work, in addition to the study of evolutionary relationships and ecosystems. The Museum is a major producer of floras - complete species checklists and identification manuals - that help people in many countries identify and protect their natural resources.

The Department of Botany has a major international collection of plant specimens. These are kept as dried specimens, pressed and mounted onto sheets, on microscope slides, or preserved in spirit. These are housed in the Herbaria where over six million specimens of algae, diatoms, ferns, mosses, lichens, and seed plants are kept. The collection is of great historical importance, dating back to the sixteenth century. It includes all of the items collected by Captain Cook's botanist, Joseph Banks, and some material collected by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. The department's 50 scientists are involved in many different areas of research based on the collections, investigating every part of the plant, from the seeds and leaves to the chromosomes and DNA.