Dendrology

Dendrology (Ancient Greek: δένδρον, dendron, "tree"; and Ancient Greek: -λογία, -logia, science of or study of) or xylology (Ancient Greek: ξύλον, ksulon, "wood") is the science and study of woody plants (trees, shrubs, and lianas), specifically, their taxonomic classifications.

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 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.