A Gardener’s Favorite: The Botany Poem by Berton Braley

American poet Berton Braley, published his light-hearted, clever poem, Botany, in the Science News Letter March 9, 1929 

There should be no monotony
In studying your botany,
It helps to train
And spur the brain--
Unless you haven't gotany.

It teaches you, does Botany,
To know the plants and spotany,
And learn just why
They live or die--
In case you plant or potany.

You learn, from reading Botany,
Of wooly plants and cottony
That grow on earth,
And what they're worth,
And why some spots have notany.

You sketch the plants in Botany,
You learn to chart and plotany
Like corn or oats--
You jot down notes,
If you know how to jotany.

Your time, if you'll allotany,
Will teach you how and what any
Old plant or tree
Can do or be--
And that's the use of Botany!