Botany, also called plant science, plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek word βοτάνη meaning "pasture", "herbs" "grass", or "fodder"; βοτάνη is in turn derived from βόσκειν, "to feed" or "to graze". 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. Nowadays, botanists study approximately 410,000 species of land plants of which some 391,000 species are vascular plants, and approximately 20,000 are bryophytes.

ಸಸ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರವು ಸಸ್ಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ನಡೆಸಲಾಗುವ ಜೀವಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದ ಭಾಗ. ಸಸ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ ಪದವು ಗ್ರೀಕ್ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಮೂಲಪದಗಳಾದ "ಬೊಟಾನೆ(ಸಸ್ಯ)ಮತ್ತು ಲಜಿ(ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ) " ಎಂಬ ಪದಗಳಿಂದಾಗಿದೆ. ಸಸ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರವು ಆಂಗ್ಲಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರೀಕ್ ಬಾಟನಿ/ಫೈಟಾಲಜಿ ಎಂದೂ ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತದೆ.