Paleobotany, also spelled as
palaeobotany (from the
Greek words
paleon = old and "
botany", study of plants), is the branch of
paleontology or
paleobiology dealing with the recovery and identification of
plant remains from
geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of
past environments (paleogeography), and both the
evolutionary history of plants, with a bearing upon the
evolution of life in general. A synonym is
paleophytology. Paleobotany includes the study of
terrestrial plant fossils, as well as the study of
prehistoric marine photoautotrophs, such as
photosynthetic algae,
seaweeds or
kelp. A closely related field is
palynology, which is the study of
fossilized and
extant spores and
pollen.
