John McConnell Black (28 April 1855 – 2 December 1951) was a Scottish botanist who emigrated to Australia in 1877 and eventually documented and illustrated thousands of flora in South Australia in the early 20th century. His publications assisted many botanists and scientists in the decades that followed. He was the younger brother of theatre and hotel manager

Helen Carte Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was a Scottish businesswoman known for her diplomatic skills and grasp of detail. Beginning as his secretary, and later marrying, impre ...

. Black was born at

Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. I ...

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 ...

and educated at Wigtown Grammar School, the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

, the College School,

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

and a commercial trade school in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was a linguist, able to understand Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. He migrated to Australia in 1877 and developed an interest in

Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

. In 1879 Black married Alice Denford and they had a daughter and three sons. He began working as a journalist in 1883. After a tour of South America and Europe following his mother's death in 1903, Black focused on systematic botany. In 1909 he published ''The Naturalised Flora of South Australia''. His ''The Flora of South Australia'' was published in four parts during 1922 to 1929, and described 2,430 species, both indigenous and naturalized. It was indispensable to botanists and to those concerned with the vegetation of the arid regions of contiguous States. He began a revised edition of his book in 1939 and worked steadily for twelve years, publishing part 1 in 1943 and part 2 in 1948. Part 3 was nearing completion at his death. J.M.Black received the following distinctions for his botanical work:- 1927, Honorary Lecturer in Systematic Botany at the University of Adelaide; 1930, Associate ''honoris causa'' of the Linnean Society, London; 1930, Sir Joseph Verco Medal of the Royal Society of South Australia; 1932 Ferdinand von Mueller Medal (

Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British As ...

); 1933–34, President of the Royal Society of South Australia; in 1942, the M.B.E.; 1945, Australian Natural History Medallion (Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria); and in 1946 the

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Bran ...

by the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

. He died at his home in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, John McConnell 20th-century Australian botanists Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages 1855 births 1951 deaths Scottish botanists 19th-century Scottish scientists People from Wigtown People educated at Edinburgh Academy Scottish linguists Burials at West Terrace Cemetery Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Australian taxonomists