Term (from the ancient Greek morphé = shape, form and logie = teaching) for a sub-field in many branches of science. In biology, this is the study of the structure and form of organisms (humans, animals, plants). It includes the classification of organisms according to their shape. In the case of the grapevine, this is the shape of the leaves, the shape of the grapes, as well as the texture and colour of the berries, which is characteristic of the respective grape variety. But it also includes the phenological changes during growth in the annual vegetation cycle from budding to leaf fall. On the other hand, physiology (Greek phýsis = nature) is the study of life processes with photosynthesis as the central process in plants.
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Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien