Horticultural botany is the study of the botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 of current and potential cultivated plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s, with emphasis on the ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

s of horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

, by a horticultural botanist or plantsman—plantsperson

Plantsman

A plantsman is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardener , nurseryman or nurserywoman. "Plantsman" can refer to a male or female person, though the terms plantswoman, or even plantsperson, are sometimes used....

."

Horticultural botanists

Professional horticultural botanists are employed by botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

s, large plant nurseries, university departments, and government agencies. The activities vary according to the mission goals and priorities of the institutions.

Duties can include:

• searching for new plants suitable for cultivation (plant hunting),
• communicating with and advising the general public on matters concerning the classification and botanical nomenclature
  Botanical nomenclature
  Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical...
  
   of cultivated plants,
• carrying out original research on these topics:
  • describing the cultivated plants and their history of particular regions in horticultural flora
    Horticultural flora
    A horticultural flora, also known as a garden flora, is a plant identification aid structured in the same way as a native plants flora. It servies the same purpose to facilitate plant identification, however it only includes plants that are under cultivation as ornamental plants growing within the...
    
    s,
  • recording new plant introductions;
• maintaining database
  Database
  A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
  
  s of cultivated plants;
• curating horticultural herbaria
  Herbarium
  In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
  
  , including collections of dried specimens and images;
• contributing to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
  International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
  The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants regulates the names of cultigens...
  
  .

Taxonomy of cultivated plants

Perhaps the single major concern of horticultural botanists has been the taxonomy of cultivated plants and so, at the present time, many horticultural botanists will be members if the International Association of Cultivated Plant Taxonomy which was established in 2007.

External links

• The Garden Club of America: SCHOLARSHIPS and FELLOWSHIPS - Botany and Horticulture