Dendrology (, ''dendron'', "tree"; and , ''

-logia ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin '' -lo ...

'', ''science of'' or ''study of'') or xylology (, ''ksulon'', "wood") is the science and study of

woody plants A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to herbaceous plants that die back to the ground until s ...

(

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s, and

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s), specifically, their taxonomic classifications. There is no sharp boundary between

plant taxonomy Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants. It is one of the main branches of taxonomy (the science that finds, describes, classifies, and names living things). Plant taxonomy is closely allied ...

and dendrology; woody plants not only belong to many different plant

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

, but these families may be made up of both woody and non-woody members. Some families include only a few woody

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. Dendrology, as a discipline of industrial forestry, tends to focus on identification of economically useful woody plants and their taxonomic interrelationships. As an academic course of study, dendrology will include all woody plants, native and non-native, that occur in a region. A related discipline is the study of sylvics, which focuses on the autecology of

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and species. In the past, dendrology included the study of the natural history of woody species in specific regions, but this aspect is now considered part of

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

. The field also plays a role in conserving rare or

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Relationship with botany

Dendrology is a branch of botany that specializes in the characterization and identification of woody plants, while botany is the study of all types of general plants.

Noted dendrologists

* Mike Baillie,

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

* Francis A. Bartlett, founder of Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens and th
Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory
* Ludwig Beissner * William Douglas Cook, founder of

Eastwoodhill Arboretum Eastwoodhill is the national arboretum of New Zealand. It covers and is located 35 km northwest of Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne, in the hill country of Ngatapa. It was founded in 1910 by William Douglas Cook. Cook's life work would becom ...

and Pukeiti (

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

) * Michael Dirr *

Maciej Giertych Maciej Marian Giertych (, born 24 March 1936 in Warsaw) is a Polish dendrologist and former far-right politician of the League of Polish Families (LPR). He favours state intervention in the economy. He was a member of the Sejm (between 2001 an ...

* Owen Johnson * Humphry Marshall * Alan Mitchell *

Alfred Rehder Alfred Rehder (4 September 1863 in Waldenburg, Saxony – 25 July 1949 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts) was a German-American botanical taxonomist and dendrologist who worked at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. He is generally re ...

* Viscount Philippe de Spoelberch *

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...

Nathaniel Lord Britton Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859 – 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York (state), New York. Early life Britton was born on the 15 of January 1859 at New Dorp, Staten Island ...

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1782 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author, born in Cambuslang in 1782. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, co ...

* Piet de Jong * Hideaki Ohba * Birbal Sahni

Gallery

Plates of trees and gardens, in ''Larousse'', 20th century"> Arbres-couleurs-1 - trees in colour - Public domain book illustration (visual explanation, informative drawing, plate) from Larousse du XXème siècle 1932.jpg, Arbres: bois, feuilles, fruits, etc., Plate 1 Arbres-couleurs-2 - trees in colour - Public domain book illustration (visual explanation, informative drawing, plate) from Larousse du XXème siècle 1932.jpg, Arbres: bois, feuilles, fruits, etc., Plate 2 Arbres d'ornement-1 - ornamental trees in colour- Public domain book illustration (visual explanation, informative drawing, plate) from Larousse du XXème siècle 1932.jpg, Jardins : arbres d'ornement, Plate 1 Arbres d'ornement-2 - ornamental trees in colour - Public domain book illustration (visual explanation, informative drawing, plate) from Larousse du XXème siècle 1932.jpg, Jardins : arbres d'ornement, Plate 2

References

External links

Iowa State - Dendrology

Forest Biology and Dendrology Educational Sites at Virginia Tech
{{tree-stub

Relationship with botany

Noted dendrologists

Gallery

See also

References

External links