Botany originated in prehistory as herbalism with the efforts of early humans to identify – and later cultivate – edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making it one of the oldest branches of science.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany
Ethnobotany simply means [...] investigating plants used by primitive societies in various parts of the world. Intellectual property rights and benefit-sharing arrangements are important issues in ethnobotany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany
Botany, also called plant science (s) or plant biology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specializes in this field of study. The term botany comes from the Ancient Greek word βοτάνη (botanē) meaning  pasture , grass, or  fodder ; βοτάνη is in turn derived from βόσκειν (boskein), to feed or to graze.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany
1. (Botany) the study of plants, including their classification, structure, physiology, ecology, and economic importance. 2. (Botany) the plant life of a particular region or time. 3. (Botany) the biological characteristics of a particular group of plants. [C17: from botanical; compare astronomy, astronomical].
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/botany
Astoria or Anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains by Irving, Washington View in context. This vine--of a species which no botanist has ever been able to name--has an important part in the story of the house.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/botanist
Traditionally, botany has also included the study of fungi and algae by mycologists and phycologists respectively, with the study of these three groups of organisms remaining within the sphere of interest of the International Botanical Congress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany
John Ray (1686–1704) provided the first definition of  species  in his  Historia Plantarum : a species is a set of individuals who give rise through reproduction to new individuals similar to themselves. In 1753 Carl Linnaeus published  Species Plantarum , which included information on about 5,900 plants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany
1. the branch of botany that studies fungi. 2. a catalogue of the fungi found in a specific area. — mycologist, n. — mycologie, mycological, adj. orchidology. the branch of botany or horticulture that studies orchids. — orchidologist, n. phycography. a scientific description of seaweed.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/botany
Ethnobotany (from ethnology, study of culture, and botany, study of plants) is the scientific study of the relationships that exist between peoples and plants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany
His published work on traditional medical uses of plants done by rural people in Bosnia (1896) has to be considered the first modern ethnobotanical work. The term ethnobotany was first used by a botanist named John W. Harshberger in 1895 while he was teaching at the University of Pennsylvania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany
define botany
Botany is the study of plants, including their classification, structure, physiology, ecology, and economic importance. Botany means the study of plants, including their classification, structure, physiology, ecology, and economic importance.