SUMMARY
A history of the Department of Botany is presented from its creation in 1954. when it was named Forest Studies Service. After 1956 it was called the Center of Forest Research, which became defunct and passed to the 3rd Division in 1975. From this date until 1979 botany was part of the Biology Division; becoming then a separate department composed of five divisions: Taxonomy (of higher and lower plants), Anatomy (both wood and leaf), Palynology (fossil and recent), Ecophysiology, and "Projeto Flora". Within the department presently are 5 Ph.D. researchers, 7 researchers with Masters Degrees, 7 researchers with university degrees, and 28 technicians and general support personnel. A list of works published by this department's researchers until 1980, listing 218 publications, is presented.