A binary search tree (BST) is a data structure that organizes elements in a hierarchical manner. It can be visualized as a tree, represented by the symbols 🌳🌺🌲, where each node holds a value and has two child nodes: a left child and a right child. The 🌳 represents the root of the tree, while the 🌺 and 🌲 represent the left and right child nodes, respectively. The BST follows the property that the value of each node is greater than all values in its left subtree and less than all values in its right subtree.