Botanical Society of Scotland
Encyclopedia
The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society
for botanists of Scotland
. It was founded in 1839 as the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, changing its name in 1991, and incorporates the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, founded in 1875.
The Society's activities include lectures (mainly held in Edinburgh, but also in other Scottish cities), symposia, field excursions, field projects and an annual exhibition meeting (held jointly with the Botanical Society of the British Isles
) for exchange of information between botanists working in different areas.
The Society is closely linked to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
and the Scottish universities.
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
for botanists of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It was founded in 1839 as the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, changing its name in 1991, and incorporates the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, founded in 1875.
The Society's activities include lectures (mainly held in Edinburgh, but also in other Scottish cities), symposia, field excursions, field projects and an annual exhibition meeting (held jointly with the Botanical Society of the British Isles
Botanical Society of the British Isles
The Botanical Society of the British Isles is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Botanical Society of London in 1836...
) for exchange of information between botanists working in different areas.
The Society is closely linked to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Originally founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh,...
and the Scottish universities.
Publications
The Botanical Society of Edinburgh published its first journal in 1844, Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, this was replaced with the Botanical Journal of Scotland in 1991 to reflect the change of the society name in the same year. Botanical Journal of Scotland was in turn replaced by Plant Ecology and Diversity in 2008, to give the journal a wider international appeal. Plant Ecology and Diversity was accepted for inclusion in Scopus in 2010 and it received its first impact factor, 2.053, in 2011.Notable members
- Albert, Prince Consort
- Queen Victoria , the Society's first Patron
- Alexander AdieAlexander AdieAlexander James Adie FRSE was a Scottish maker of medical instruments, optician and meteorologist. He was the inventor of the sympiesometer, patented in 1818....
- Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
- Cardale BabingtonCardale BabingtonCharles Cardale Babington was an English botanist and archaeologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851....
- John Hutton BalfourJohn Hutton BalfourJohn Hutton Balfour was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to Edinburgh University and also becoming Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 1845...
, the driving force behind the establishment of the Society - Robert BrownRobert Brown (explorer)Robert Brown was a Scottish scientist, explorer, and author.He was born in Camster, Caithness, and studied in the universities of Edinburgh, Leyden, Copenhagen, and Rostock. He took the habit of referring to his home town, Campster , to distinguish himself from his famous contemporary of the same...
- Alexander BrysonAlexander Bryson (horologist)Alexander Bryson FRSE FGS FRSSA FSAScot FRPSE was a Scottish biologist, geologist and horologist who served as president of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts and as president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh .-Works:...
- Alexander BuchanAlexander Buchan (meteorologist)Alexander Buchan FRS FRSE was a Scottish meteorologist, oceanographer and botanist, credited with establishing the weather map as the basis of weather forecasting...
- William CarruthersWilliam Carruthers (botanist)William C Carruthers was a Scottish botanist.Carruthers was keeper of the Botanical Department at the Natural History Museum from 1871 to 1895. He was consulting botanist to the Royal Agricultural Society ....
- Thomas Frederic CheesemanThomas Frederic CheesemanThomas Frederick Cheeseman was a New Zealand botanist and also a naturalist who had a wide-ranging interest in natural history, such that he even described a few species of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs.- Biography :...
- Hugh Cleghorn, the "father of Indian forestry", a founder member in 1839, elected President in 1870
- Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, author of "On The Origin of Species" - Alexander DicksonAlexander Dickson (botanist)Alexander Dickson FRSE was a Scottish botanist.Born at Edinburgh, his family had previously had members in the legal and medical professions; one of the earliest of whom any special records exist having been John Dickson of Kilbucho and Hartree, a lawyer, who in 1649 was appointed a Senator of the...
- Job Bicknell EllisJob Bicknell EllisJob Bicknell Ellis was a pioneering North American mycologist known for his study of the Ascomycetes, especially the grouping of fungi called the Pyrenomycetes . Born and raised in New York, he worked as a teacher and farmer before developing an interest in mycology...
- C. H. GiminghamC. H. GiminghamCharles Henry Gimingham OBE FRSE FIBiol, born 28 April 1923, is a British applied botanist, Patron of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, past President of the British Ecological Society, and a world authority on heathlands and heathers....
- Robert Graham, first President of the Society
- Robert Kaye GrevilleRobert Kaye GrevilleRobert Kaye Greville was a Scottish mycologist, bryologist, and botanist. He was an accomplished artist and illustrator of natural history. In addition to science he was interested in political causes like abolitionism, capital punishment, keeping Sunday special and the temperance movement...
- Godfrey HowittGodfrey HowittGodfrey Howitt , entomologist, was born in Heanor in Derbyshire to Thomas Howitt. Thomas had farmed a few acres of land at Heanor and joined the Society of Friends on his marriage with Phoebe Tantum, a member of the same society, with whom he acquired a considerable fortune.Godfrey was educated at...
- Edward JanczewskiEdward JanczewskiEdward Janczewski was a Polish biologist , rector of the Jagiellonian University, and member of the Academy of Learning. He married Jadwiga Szetkiewicz .In 1862, Janczewski obtained a degree at Vilna...
- George LawsonGeorge Lawson (botanist)George Lawson was a Scottish-Canadian botanist who is considered the "father of Canadian botany".Born in Scotland, in 1858, he was appointed the Professor of Chemistry and Natural History at Queen's University...
, the "father of Canadian botany", was assistant secretary and curator of the Society - Lars Levi LæstadiusLars Levi LæstadiusLars Levi Læstadius was a Swedish Lutheran pastor of partly Sami ancestry. From the mid 1840s and onward he became the leader of the Laestadian movement...
- Duncan NapierDuncan NapierDuncan Napier was a Victorian botanist and herbalist. His early start in life was hard as he was orphaned at an early age. From his youth he was fascinated by plants and nature. His interest in herbal medicine started when he found a book about it on an Edinburgh market stall. He had been...
- Göte TuressonGöte TuressonGöte Wilhelm Turesson was a Swedish evolutionary botanist who made significant contributions to ecological genetics, and coined the terms ecotype and agamospecies. He conducted extensive work to demonstrate that there is a genetic basis to the differentiation of plant populations...
- Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
, the Society's current Patron
See also
- Botanical Society of the British IslesBotanical Society of the British IslesThe Botanical Society of the British Isles is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Botanical Society of London in 1836...
- Flora of ScotlandFlora of ScotlandThe flora of Scotland is an assemblage of native plant species including over 1,600 vascular plants, more than 1,500 lichens and nearly 1,000 bryophytes. The total number of vascular species is low by world standard but lichens and bryophytes are abundant and the latter form a population of global...
- Plantlife Scotland
- Royal Caledonian Horticultural SocietyRoyal Caledonian Horticultural SocietyThe Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society is the national horticultural society of Scotland, and was founded in 1809. It is based in Edinburgh and meets at the Royal Botanic Garden....
- Scottish Natural HeritageScottish Natural HeritageScottish Natural Heritage is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e...