History
The Department was established in the year 1962 and was housed in three halls of Milind College of Arts, which was shifted to its present premises in 1967. The founder head was late Prof. K. B. Deshpande. In the early years the Department carried researches in two streams i. e. Plant Pathology & Mycology and Angiosperms and subsequently two more areas of Physiology and Cytogenetics were added. In the year 1967, the Department produced the first Ph. D. degree. The faculties have contributed the Botany of the region and published around 40 books. Some of the masterpieces are Angiosperm Taxonomy (1984), Tata Mc Graw Hill; Flora of Marathwada (2 valumes, 1998), Gazetteer of Maharashtra (2010) Govt. of Maharashtra etc. Till date, the Department has produced more than 350 Ph. D. candidates. For the enrichment of the knowledge of the students, research scholars and teachers, there are several lecture series namely - Scientists lecture series, UGC extension lecture series, Teacher exchange programme, Late Prof. K. B. Deshpande memorial lecture, Late Prof. V. N. Naik memorial lecture series etc.
Herbarium was established in 1969 with the incorporation of the flora of Osmanabad and later on go on enriching day by day. All the students of Late Prof. V. N. Naik have collected the flowering plant specimens from respective districts of Marathwada. There are special collections like - Late Prof. V. N. Naik: genus Chlorophytum; Dr. M. A. Wadood Khan: family Cyperaceae; Prof. D. S. Pokle and Prof. Arvind Dhabe: genus Alysicarpus; Prof. Arvind Dhabe: genus Terminalia, Tephrosia, Cassia, Medicinal plants of Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani and Nanded districts, Flowering plants from all over India; Prof. M. M. Sardesai: genus Sida; Prof. M. M. Sardesai and Dr. Ravikiran Govekar: Flora of Gadchiroli etc. It is Internationally Recognized with Acronym 'BAMU'.
Our Batanic Garden is the largest University Botanic Garden in India. It has 4 parts viz. Departmental Botanic Garden, Central Oval Garden, Main Botanical Garden and Institutional Forest. It has about 215 species of trees, and 600 species of Botanical interest. We use the plant specimens from the Botanic Garden for teaching and research.
Department conducts plant excursion and study tours to various remote places and the collection is deposited in the 'BAMU' Herbarium and used for the practicals. Tissue culture laboratory has been established for conservation and in-vitro propagation of endangered and medicinal plants of Marathwada region.
Department has implemented the semester system from 2003, Academic flexibility has been given in 2009 and CBCS system is implemented from 2012 and NEP 2020 Curriculum from 2023 – 2024. The exam pattern is 60:40 that is 60% External Assessment through Term End Examination and 40% Continuous Internal Assessment through Regular assessment, Unit Tests, Seminars, Remedial tests etc. More than 25% weightage is given to Research methodology. Through NEP 2020 Curriculum the Department has incorporated the new courses like Horticulture, Botanical Techniques, On Job Training in Seed industries, Field Projects, Industrial Technology, Pharmacognosy etc.
Students have to present their Project Work before External Examiner, all faculties, all Research Scholars and all PG students.