Abstract
The architecture of a plant depends on the nature and on the relative arrangement of each of its parts; it is, at any given time, the expression of an equilibrium between endogenous growth processes and exogenous constraints exerted by the environment, The aim of architectural analysis is to identify and understand these endogenous processes by means of observation and sometimes experimentation. Considering the plant as a whole, from germination to death, architectural analysis is essentially a detailed, comprehensive and dynamic approach of plant development. Despite their recent origin, architectural concepts provide a powerful tool for studying plant form. Completed by precise morphological observations, recent researches in this field have deeply increased our understanding of plant structure and development and led to the establishment of a real conceptual and methodological framework for plant form study and modeling. This paper is a brief and summarized update of our knowledge on plant architecture and morphology.