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.
[1] This link between botany and anthropology explores the ways humans use plants for food, medicines, and commerce.
An early set of instructions drawn up by a cosmographer of Charles the fifth instructed explorers to "determine what are the items of sustenance of the land and which ones are generally used, whether fruits or seeds, and all manner of spices, drugs, or whatever other scents, and find out the time in which one can reproduce the trees, plants, herbs, and fruits that these parts offer, and if the natives use them for medicines, as we do.
As the Islamic Empire reached its westernmost limits on the Iberian Peninsula, Muslims were able to bring with them flora from the east.
Several books were published on the subject between the 10th and 14th centuries, showing the detailed nature of Islamic botany, differentiating between various citrus such as lemons, limes, sweet and sour oranges, pomelos, and grapefruit.
The Spanish Empire sent Magellan on a voyage for the purpose of gaining trade relations with the Spice Islands, but failed due to Portuguese control of the area.
In the early 17th century, the Spanish found that there were numerous valuable spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper that could be cultivated in the Philippines similarly to what the Portuguese could in the Moluccas.
[5] As the Spanish realized that their colonies in the Americas and the Philippines were not going to be able to produce a suitable amount of spices that they needed to gain an economic advantage, they landed upon the idea of transplantation.
The first Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio De Mendoza showed interest for transplantation 1542, and illegally came upon seeds from the East Indies.
The Council of the Indies and the Spanish Crown did not gather proficient information on Mendoza's scientific and economical success although they tried.
Several key medical discoveries have been made by studying plants and the compounds they produce, to see the effect they have on humans.
Ephedra, a gymnosperm in the order Gnetales, is the natural source of ephedrine, the plant's principal alkaloid.
Many people take echinacea for cold and flu-like symptoms, but studies show that the plant has had mixed success fighting these viruses.
NCCAM is currently studying echinacea for the treatment of upper respiratory infections as well as its effect on the immune system.
[2] American ginseng has a long history of improving the immune system to reduce the symptoms of the cold and flu.
The study showed that P. quinguefolius red American ginseng could be an herbal medicine with the ability to reduce cancer.
Its functions include improving memory and prevent the liver and kidney from taking damage from drug overdoses.
In China, the dietary supplement with GSPE show great health benefits to both people and animals.
So, the farmers check the color of the rice plant's leaves as the indicator for when they need to apply nitrogen fertilizer.
Native Americans bred and selected teosinte for the traits we see in corn today (large ears, multiple rows of kernels).
Modern corn is incapable of reproducing without human help; the kernels will stay firmly attached to the cob and rot.
The main areas of success include: low cost, reduced samples, fewer CPR and purification steps, no size fractionation, and more.
Chapman spent 48 years travelling all along the American northwest spreading apple seeds and planting trees.
Trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses, all of these are planted by professional landscaping agencies regularly, with a large economic effect.
Scientists studied the biological processes, cellular component and molecular functions to improve the growing of carnation flowers.