The Department of Botany was started in the year 1969 at the Nandanam campus. The department started offering PUC and was upgraded to a full fledged UG department offering B.Sc. Botany in 1971. The UG course was rechristened as Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology. The sanctioned staff strength was 10 until 2011 and in the Academic year 2011-2012 the department was upgraded to a PG department. In the year 2012-2013 the department was accorded research status.

The faculty strength is 14 and 13 are holding doctorate degrees in various specializations. There are six faculty m embers who are research guides and 5 Faculty members have received research grants from various funding agencies.

Every year students projects are sanctioned from TANSCHE and TNSCST. The Department maintain two gardens- one for medicinal plants and one for conducting horticulture classes. Organic farming is taught to the students. Two staff members Dr. Mujeera Fathima and Dr. K.P. Girivasan have been selected under Study Abroad Programme of Government of Tamil Nadu(TANSCHE) to visit United Kingdom to learn teaching learning methodology and to do research.