Introduction to Economic botany

Botany is the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function,
development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the
biosphere. It also includes the investigation of their uses and other parameters of importance
wherever found. Such parameters dont have to be only positive from mans point of view.

Economic botany is the study of the relationship between people (individuals and cultures) and
plants. Economic botany intersects many fields including established disciplines such as agronomy,
anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, economics, ethnobotany, ethnology, forestry, genetic
resources, geography, geology, horticulture, medicine, microbiology, nutrition, pharmacognosy, and
pharmacology. This link between botany and anthropology explores the ways humans use plants for
food, shelter, medicines, textiles, and more.

Examples and Classification of Economic Plant Species available in Nigeria

Plant classification is desirable for better understanding and appreciation of the numerous plants
found growing everywhere. It also assists in memory preservation of knowledge on the identity of
each plant.
However, a classification of plants that will hold under all conditions is hardly possible. Many
plantsare used for a number of varied purposes and different uses are continually evolved for
different plants so much that some formally inconspicuous plants become promoted because of their
discovered essential use(s). Nevertheless, plants are grouped from two major lines of focus namely:
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1. Botanical classification
2. Agronomic classification

Botanical Classification Seedless and Seed plants (Spermatophytes) are subdivisions of the plant
kingdom. The latter are plants reproduced by seeds Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. Most of the
plants grown for food or other economic use (i.e. crops) fall under the angiosperms. The seeds of
angiosperms are enclosed in an ovary as opposed to the nakedseeds of gymnosperms.
Angiosperms are the best known of the earths vegetation with over 180,000 species reported. There
are two main subclasses of angiosperms, monocotyledons (grasses, including cereals and
sugarcane) and dicotyledons. From previous studies in Plant Taxonomy, each of the subclasses is
further divided in to orders, families, genera, species and varieties. There are specific parameters of
character similarities for delimitation into such groups.

Agronomic Classification
Plants are classified according to the products from the plant and or their use, rather than any form
of character similarity. There are Cereal crops, Roots, Tuber, Grain legumes, Vegetables, Sugar
crops,Forage, Fruit crops, Oil crops, Nut crops, Rubber, Timber or Tree crops, Fibre crops, Spices
and stimulants. A broader classification contract the groups as Food crops, Tree crops, Fibre,
Forage, Cereals, Medicinal and Timber crops. A particular crop may recur under more than one of
these broadgroups. Crops are generally used as food or raw materials for the industries which
provide processed foods of different kinds. In recent times, awareness is gaining ground on the
medicinal import of some plants.
Hence another concise grouping of plants include: FOOD, INDUSTRIAL and MEDICINAL
crops

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Economically important food plants
Plants that humans use for food are of high economic importance. Research into food plants
generally involves increasing the size of the edible plant organ in question, or increasing the areas
where the plant can be grown, and less frequently, finding new crop species.

1. Fruits: Citrus,. Apples, pawpaw, plums etc

2. Cereals: Rice, maize, wheats etc
3. Vegetables: Lettuce, cabbages, spinach etc
Economically valuable medicinal plants
Plants have been used from ancient times to attempt cures for diseases and to relive physical
suffering. Ancient peoples all had acquired some knowledge of medicinal plants. Oftentimes these
primitive attempts at medicine were based on superstition and speculation. Evil spirits in the body
were thought to be the cause of medical problems. They could be driven out of the body through
the use of poisonous or disagreeable plant substances that rendered the body a disagreeable habitat.
Medicine men or women of a tribe were usually charged with knowledge of such plants. The
progress of medicine has often been guided by the earlier observations and beliefs.

Drug Plants

That branch of medical science dealing with the drug plants themselves is known as
Pharmacognosy. It is concerned with the history, commerce, collection, selection, identification and
preservation of crude drugs and raw materials. The action of drugs is Pharmacology. Worldwide
there are several thousand plants that have been and are still being used for medical purposes.
Many of these are restricted in use by native people who have long resided in any given area.

Very few drug plants are cultivated. Most of the drug supply is from wild plants growing in
different parts of the world, especially in tropical areas. These drug plants are collected and
prepared in a crude way for shipment. They eventually reach the centers of the drug trade and are
processed. Sometimes a country has built up a monopoly of some particular drug. For example,
Japan used to control the export of camphor, agar and pyrethrum, while the Dutch in Java supplied
almost all the Quinine (Chichona) for world trade.

Plants medicinal value is due to the presence in its tissues of some chemical substance or
substances that produce a physiological action on the body. Most important are the alkaloids,
compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Glucosides, essential oils, fatty oils, resins,
mucilages, tannins and gums are all utilized. Some of these are powerful poisons so that the
preparation and administering of them should be entirely supervised by physicians.

1. Drugs from Plant Roots: Aconite, Colchicum, Gentian (Bitterroot), Ginseng, Ipecacuanha,
Licorice, Podophyllum, Rhubarb, Squills etc

2. Drugs from the Bark of Plants: Cascara, Curare, Cinchona (Quinine),

3. Drugs from Stems & Woods: Ephedrine, Guiacum , Quassia,

4. Drugs from Plant Leaves: Belladonna, Cocaine, Buchu,Digitalis, , Senna, Stramonium

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 5. Drugs from Flowers: Chamomile, Colocynth, Nux Vomica,

6. Drugs from Lower Plants: Antibiotics like Penicillin,Streptomycin, Aureomycin,

Chloromycetin, Terramycin, Neomycin

7. Other Medicinal Substances: Agar, Ergot, Lycopodium, Male Fern

8. Insecticides and Rodenticides: Pyrethrum flower,Derris roots, Lonchocarpus, Red Squill

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Ornamental plants
Ornamental plants can be found in almost any store, and many people have at least one in their
home. However, ornamental plants are not limited to houseplants. Landscaping agencies make
heavy use of ornamental plants, usually with an accompanying high cost. Trees, shrubs, flowers,
and grasses, all of these are planted by professional landscaping agencies regularly, with a large
economic effect:
Ornamental plants can be ctegorised into the following plant types
1. Agaves
2. Aloes
3. Bromeliads & Orchids
4. Cacti & Other Desert Plants
5. Ground Covers
6. Shrubs, Flowers, Vines
7. Daisies
8. Trees
9. Yuccas
Industrial Plants & Plant Products
1. Essential Oils
2. Fatty Oils & Waxes
3. Fibers & Fiber Plants
4. Forest Products: Wood & Cork
5. Forest Resources
6. Gums & Resins
7. Rubber and Other Latex Products
8. Sugars, Starches & Cellulose Products

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9. Tanning, Dye & Processing Materials