Putti study the plants in a botanical garden; representing botany. Botany, also called plant sciences, plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specializes in this field. Botany originated in prehistory as herbalism with the efforts of early humans to identify, and later cultivate, edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making it one of the oldest branches of science. A putto is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Putti are secular and represent a non-religious passion. Etching by Bernard Picart, 1729.