The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...

for botanists of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities include lectures (mainly held in Edinburgh, but also in other Scottish cities), symposia, field excursions, field projects and an annual Scottish Botanist's Conference, held jointly with the

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) 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 Botani ...

for exchange of information between botanists working in different areas. Its publications include a twice-yearly newsletter, BSS News, and a scientific journal, ''Plant Ecology & Diversity''. The society is closely linked to the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

and the

Scottish universities There are fifteen universities in Scotland and three other institutions of higher education that have the authority to award academic degrees. The first university college in Scotland was founded at St John's College, St Andrews in 1418 by H ...

History

It was founded on 8 February 1836 as the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Its founding members included Prof

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainlan ...

, Prof

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the University of Edinburgh and also becoming the 7th Regius Kee ...

and Dr

Richard Parnell Richard Parnell FRSE MWS (1810–28 October 1882) was a British physician as well as an amateur zoologist, ichthyologist and agrostologist. He gives his name to Parnell's moustached bat. The grass ''Parnelli'' is also named after him. He was ...

. In 1935 the Botanical Society of Edinburgh incorporated the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, founded in 1875, and included its name in its title. Its name changed again in 1991 to Botanical Society of Scotland, incorporating the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland. The Botanical Society of Scotland has been a charity registered in Scotland since 19 February 1918, and became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) (No. SC016283) on 15 April 2014.

Activities

BSS is the only British botanical society with a keen interest in both flowering and non-flowering plants (e.g. ferns, mosses and algae) and fungi. This wide range of interest is reflected in its programme of monthly lectures during winter months, held mainly at the

. Field meetings are held during summer and autumn to record both flowering and non-flowering plants all over Scotland. BSS also runs courses in special topics such as grass identification. An annual meeting, the Scottish Botanist's Conference is held each autumn, run jointly by BSBI, BSS and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Symposia and conferences devoted to specific topics such as Plant

Phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

are organised from time to time.

Publications

The Botanical Society of Edinburgh published its first journal, ''Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh'', from 1844 to 1990. In 1991, this was replaced with ''Botanical Journal of Scotland'', published by

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

, to reflect the change of the society's name to "Botanical Society of Scotland" in the same year. In 2008, to give the journal an international appeal, ''Botanical Journal of Scotland'' was in turn replaced by ''Plant Ecology and Diversity'', published by

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

. Plant Ecology and Diversity was accepted for inclusion in

Scopus Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...

in 2010 and it received its first impact factor, 2.053, in 2011.

Presidents

Source (1836-1937): ;Botanical Society of Edinburgh ;Botanical Society of Scotland (1990-) *1990-1992 : Dr James H. Dickson *1992-1994 : Miss J. Muscott *1994-1996 : Dr Kwiton Jong *1996–1998 : Prof. John Proctor *1998-2000 : Prof. Elizabeth Cutter *2000-2002 : Dr George Argent *2002-2004 : Mr Philip Lusby *2004-2006 : Dr Douglas Malcolm *2006-2008 : Prof. Richard Abbott *2008-2010 : Dr Christopher Jeffree *2010-2012 : Dr Barbara Sumner *2012-2017 : Prof. John Grace *2017-2019 : Dr Brian Ballinger *2019-2021 : Dr Julia Wilson *2021–present : Dr Jill Thompson

Other notable members

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, the society's first patron *

Alexander Adie Alexander James Adie FRSE MWS (1775, Edinburgh – 4 December 1858, Edinburgh) was a Scottish maker of medical instruments, optician and meteorologist. He was the inventor of the sympiesometer, patented in 1818. Life He was born the son of Jo ...

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

Cardale Babington Charles Cardale Babington (23 November 1808 – 22 July 1895) was an English botanist and archaeologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. Babington was the son of Joseph Babington and Cathérine née Whitter, and a nephew ...

* William Brand, founder member * Robert Brown *

Alexander Bryson Alexander Bryson FRSE FGS FRSSA FSAScot FRPSE (12 October 1816 – 7 December 1866) was a Scottish biologist, geologist and horologist who served as president of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts (1860–61) and as president of the Royal P ...

* William Carruthers *

Thomas Frederic Cheeseman Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (8 June 184515 October 1923) was a New Zealand botanist. He was also a naturalist who had wide-ranging interests, such that he even described a few species of sea slugs (marine gastropod molluscs). Biography Chee ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

, author of ''

On The Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' *

Job Bicknell Ellis Job Bicknell Ellis (January 21, 1829 – December 30, 1905) was a pioneering North American mycologist known for his study of ascomycetes, especially the grouping of fungi called the Pyrenomycetes (known today as the Sordariomycetes). Born and r ...

Godfrey Howitt Godfrey Howitt (8 October 1800 – 4 December 1873), 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 ...

Edward Janczewski Edward Janczewski (Edward Franciszek Janczewski-Glinka) (14 December 1846, Blinstrubiszki, Kovno Governorate – 17 July 1918, Kraków) was a Polish biologist (taxonomist, anatomist, and morphologist), rector of the Jagiellonian University, and ...

Paul Gordon Jarvis Paul Gordon Jarvis (1935 - 2013) was a leading ecologist and Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Edinburgh from 1975 to 2001. Education Jarvis was educated at Oriel College, Oxford graduating with a Bachelor of Art ...

FRS, plant ecologist, Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

* George Lawson, the "father of Canadian botany", was assistant secretary and curator of the society * Lars Levi Læstadius *

Duncan Napier Duncan Scott Napier (3 February 1831 – 9 March 1921) was a Scottish botanist, herbalist and businessman. Despite having a deprived childhood and being functionally illiterate until his early teens, he became an expert in herbal remedies and di ...

* Robert Thomson, pioneer of sanitation *

Göte Turesson Göte Wilhelm Turesson (6 April 1892 – 30 December 1970) was a Swedish evolutionary botanist who made significant contributions to ecological genetics, and coined the terms ecotype and agamospecies. He conducted extensive work to demonstra ...

Charles Wyville Thomson Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his knight ...

, chief scientist on the

Challenger Expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by Wil ...

Katherine Sophia Kane Lady Katherine Sophia Kane (''née'' Baily; 11 March 1811 – 25 February 1886) was an Irish botanist, best known for her book on Irish flowering plants ''The Irish Flora'' (1833). Life Katherine Sophia Baily was born 11 March 1811, the only c ...

, the first elected female member of the society *

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, Honorary Fellow

References

External links

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Facebook group
*
Botanical Scientific Journals
{{Authority control 1836 establishments in Scotland 1836 in science

British biology societies Charities based in Edinburgh Flora of Scotland Learned societies of Scotland Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Organizations established in 1836