Botanical Society of Scotland

The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society for botanists of Scotland. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities^[1] 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 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 and the Scottish universities.^[2]

It was founded on 8 February 1836 as the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Its founding members included Prof Edward Forbes, Prof John Hutton Balfour and Dr Richard Parnell.^[3]

In 1935 the Botanical Society of Edinburgh incorporated the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, founded in 1875, and included its name in its title.^[4] 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.

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 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 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 are organised from time to time.

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, 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.^[5] Plant Ecology and Diversity was accepted for inclusion in Scopus in 2010 and it received its first impact factor, 2.053, in 2011.

Source (1836-1937):^[6]

Botanical Society of Edinburgh

1836-1839 : Prof. Robert Graham (1st President)
1839-1840 : Robert Kaye Greville (1st term)
1840-1841 : David Falconar
1841-1842 : Prof. Robert Christison
1842-1843 : Patrick Neill
1843-1844 : Prof. Robert Graham (2nd term)
1844-1845 : Andrew Douglas Maclagan (1st term)
1845-1846 : Prof. John Hutton Balfour (1st term), the driving force behind the establishment of the society
1846-1847 : Robert Kaye Greville (2nd term)
1847-1848 : Rev. Prof. John Fleming (1st term)
1848-1849 : Prof. John Hutton Balfour (2nd term)
1849-1850 : Rev. Prof. John Fleming (2nd term)
1850-1851 : Prof. John Hutton Balfour (3rd term)
1851-1852 : William Seller (1st term)
1852-1855 : Prof. John Hutton Balfour (4th term)
1855-1856 : Lt.-Col. Edward Madden
1856-1857 : Rev. Prof. John Fleming (3rd term)
1857-1858 : William Seller (2nd term)
1858-1859 : Andrew Murray
1859-1860 : Prof. George James Allman
1860-1861 : William H. Lowe
1861-1862 : Thomas Croxen Archer
1862-1863 : Prof. Andrew Douglas Maclagan (2nd term)
1863-1864 : Prof. John Hutton Balfour (5th term)
1864-1865 : Alexander Dickson (1st term)
1865-1866 : Robert Kaye Greville (3rd term)
1866-1867 : Isaac Anderson-Henry
1867-1868 : Charles Jenner
1868-1869 : Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn, the "father of Indian forestry"
1869-1870 : Sir Walter Elliot
1870-1871 : Alexander Buchan
1871-1872 : Prof. Charles Wyville Thomson
1872-1873 : James McNab
1873-1877 : Sir Robert Christison, Bt.
1877-1879 : Thomas Alexander Goldie Balfour
1879-1880 : William Gorrie
1880-1882 : Prof. Isaac Bayley Balfour (1st term)
1882-1884 : William Brack Boyd
1884-1887 : Prof. Alexander Dickson (2nd term)
1887-1889 : William Craig
1889-1891 : Robert Lindsay
1891-1893 : David Christison
1893-1895 : Prof. Frederick Orpen Bower
1895-1897 : Andrew Peebles Aitken
1897-1899 : William Watson
1899-1901 : Rev. David Paul
1901-1902 : Col. Fred Bailey, R.E.
1902-1904 : Prof. James William Helenus Trail
1904-1906 : Prof. Isaac Bayley Balfour (2nd term)
1906-1908 : J. Rutherford Hill
1908-1910 : Thomas Bennet-Clark
1910-1912 : Albert William Borthwick
1912-1913 : Sir Archibald Buchan-Hepburn, Bt.
1913-1915 : R. Stewart MacDougall
1915-1917 : Robert Alexander Robertson
1917-1920 : James Whytock
1920-1922 : William Gardner Smith
1922-1925 : Prof. William Wright Smith (1st term)
1925-1927 : Prof. James Montagu Frank Drummond
1927-1929 : Col. John Sutherland
1929-1931 : J. Rutherford Hill
1931-1933 : William Young
1933-1935 : Malcolm Wilson
1935-1937 : Prof. Sir William Wright Smith (2nd term)
1937-1939 : Alexander Cowan^[7]
1939-1942 : James Robert Matthews^[8]
1942-1943 : Robert James Douglas Graham^[7]
1943-1945 : Edward Wyllie Fenton^[7]
1945-1947 : James Wyllie Gregor^[9]
1947-1950 : Elizabeth (Helen) May Knox ^[10]
1950-1951 : Prof. Sir William Wright Smith (3rd term)^[11]
1951-1953 : John Macqueen Cowan^[12]
1953-1955 : William Burns ^[13]^[14]^[15]
1955-1957 : James Alexander MacDonald^[16]
1957-1960 : Harold Roy Fletcher^[17]
1960-1962 : Anna M. Macleod ^[18]
1962-1964 : Prof. John Walton ^[19]
1964-1966 : Douglas Mackay Henderson^[20]
1966-1968 : J. Grant Roger ^[21]
1968-1970 : Prof. Robert Brown ^[22]
1970-1972 : David Hugh Neven-Spence^[23]
1972-1974 : Brian Lawrence Burtt^[24]
1974-1976 : W.W. Fletcher ^[25]
1976-1978 : A.F. Dyer ^[26]
1978-1980 : William W. Gauld ^[27]^[28]
1980-1982 : Prof. Robert MacGregor Martyn Crawford ^[29]^[30]
1982-1984 : Prof. Charles Henry Gimingham^[31]^[32]
1984-1986 : Roy Watling
1986-1988 : Prof. John Albert Raven^[33]^[34]
1988-1990 : Philip Morgans Smith ^[35]

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 ^[36]
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 ^[37]
2017-2019 : Dr Brian Ballinger ^[38]
2019-2021 : Dr Julia Wilson
2021–2023: Dr Jill Thompson
2023-present: Prof. Jonathan Silvertown

Albert, Prince Consort
Queen Victoria, the society's first patron
Alexander Adie
Alexander von Humboldt
Cardale Babington
William Brand, founder member
Robert Brown
Alexander Bryson
William Carruthers
Thomas Frederic Cheeseman
Charles Darwin, author of On The Origin of Species
Job Bicknell Ellis
Godfrey Howitt
Edward Janczewski
Paul Gordon Jarvis FRS, plant ecologist, Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Edinburgh
George Lawson, the "father of Canadian botany", was assistant secretary and curator of the society
Lars Levi Læstadius
Duncan Napier
Robert Thomson, pioneer of sanitation
Göte Turesson
Charles Wyville Thomson, chief scientist on the Challenger Expedition
Katherine Sophia Kane, the first elected female member of the society
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Honorary Fellow

[1]
"Activities". Botanical Society of Scotland. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
[2]
"About the BSS". Botanical Society of Scotland. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
[3]
"Richard Parnell, M.D". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 16 (1–4): 6–8. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608609468215.
[4]
Watling, R. (1986). "150 Years of paddock stools: A history of agaric ecology and floristics in Scotland". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 45: 1–42. doi:10.1080/03746608608685403.
[5]
"Plant Ecology & Diversity". Taylor & Francis Website. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
[6]
The Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1836-1936 (PDF). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
[7]
"Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh" (PDF). RSE. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
[8]
Matthews, J. R (1941). "Presidential Address—Floral Morphology and its Bearing on the Classification of Angiosperms". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 33 (2): 69–82. doi:10.1080/13594864109441373.
[9]
Gregor, J. W (1947). "Presidential Address: Some Reflections on Intra-Specific Ecological Variation and its Classification". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 34 (4): 377–391. doi:10.1080/13594864709441409.
[10]
Haines, Catherine. International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. p. 162.
[11]
"Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 36 (2): vii–xiii. 1953. doi:10.1080/13594865309441595.
[12]
Cowan, J. M (1954). "The Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 36 (3): 181–184. doi:10.1080/13594865409441605. PMC 5586696. PMID 30161412.
[13]
Burns, W (2010). "Presidential Address". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 37: 1–10. doi:10.1080/13594865609441624.
[14]
"Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 37: i–xiii. 2010. doi:10.1080/13594865609441623.
[15]
"Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 36 (4): xx–xxv. 2010. doi:10.1080/13594865509441613.
[16]
"Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 37 (2): xiv–xxvi. 1957. doi:10.1080/13594865709441647. hdl:2027/hvd.32044106390966.
[17]
Fletcher, H. R (1960). "Presidential Address". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 39: 1–27. doi:10.1080/13594866009441681.
[18]
MacLeod, Anna M (1962). "Presidential Address". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 39 (3): 247–265. doi:10.1080/13594866209441709.
[19]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 39 (5): xli–xlix. 1964. doi:10.1080/13594866409441733.
[20]
"Special dinner Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 40: 146. 1965. doi:10.1080/03746606508685135.
[21]
"Proceedings of the botanical society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 40 (4): xxix–xxxix. 1968. doi:10.1080/03746606808685176. hdl:2027/hvd.32044106390966.
[22]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 41: 105–108. 1970. doi:10.1080/03746607008685210.
[23]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 41 (4): 571–575. 1972. doi:10.1080/03746607208685257.
[24]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 42 (2): 251–254. 1974. doi:10.1080/03746607408685287.
[25]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 42 (4): 545–548. 1976. doi:10.1080/03746607608685317.
[26]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43: 71–73. 1978. doi:10.1080/03746607808685340.
[27]
"Proceedings of the botanical society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43 (2): 163–165. 1979. doi:10.1080/03746607908685350. hdl:2027/hvd.32044106390966.
[28]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLIII 1979–80". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43 (3): 251–253. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608008685361.
[29]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43 (4): 345–346. 1981. doi:10.1080/03746608108685373.
[30]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLVI 1981–82". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 44: 75–77. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608208685417.
[31]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLVI 1882–83". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 44 (2): 165–167. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608308685383.
[32]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 44 (3): 287–289. 1984. doi:10.1080/03746608408685395.
[33]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 45 (2): 163–165. 1987. doi:10.1080/03746608708685428.
[34]
"Proceedings of the botanical society of edinburgh session CXLXI 1987–88". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 45 (3): 299–301. 1988. doi:10.1080/03746608808684967.
[35]
"Obituaries-Philip Morgans Smith (1941-2004)" (PDF). BSBI. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
[36]
"Professor John Proctor". The Independent. 6 November 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
[37]
"News Archive". Wildlife Information Centre. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
[38]
"BSS Council 2018/19". Botanical Society of Scotland. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[1] [1]
"Activities". Botanical Society of Scotland. Retrieved 20 January 2015.

[2] [2]
"About the BSS". Botanical Society of Scotland. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2015.

[3] [3]
"Richard Parnell, M.D". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 16 (1–4): 6–8. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608609468215.

[Watling-4] [4]
Watling, R. (1986). "150 Years of paddock stools: A history of agaric ecology and floristics in Scotland". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 45: 1–42. doi:10.1080/03746608608685403.

[T&F-5] [5]
"Plant Ecology & Diversity". Taylor & Francis Website. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 15 February 2014.

[6] [6]
The Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1836-1936 (PDF). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[RSE-7] [7]
"Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh" (PDF). RSE. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[8] [8]
Matthews, J. R (1941). "Presidential Address—Floral Morphology and its Bearing on the Classification of Angiosperms". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 33 (2): 69–82. doi:10.1080/13594864109441373.

[9] [9]
Gregor, J. W (1947). "Presidential Address: Some Reflections on Intra-Specific Ecological Variation and its Classification". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 34 (4): 377–391. doi:10.1080/13594864709441409.

[10] [10]
Haines, Catherine. International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. p. 162.

[11] [11]
"Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 36 (2): vii–xiii. 1953. doi:10.1080/13594865309441595.

[12] [12]
Cowan, J. M (1954). "The Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 36 (3): 181–184. doi:10.1080/13594865409441605. PMC 5586696. PMID 30161412.

[13] [13]
Burns, W (2010). "Presidential Address". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 37: 1–10. doi:10.1080/13594865609441624.

[14] [14]
"Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 37: i–xiii. 2010. doi:10.1080/13594865609441623.

[15] [15]
"Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 36 (4): xx–xxv. 2010. doi:10.1080/13594865509441613.

[16] [16]
"Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 37 (2): xiv–xxvi. 1957. doi:10.1080/13594865709441647. hdl:2027/hvd.32044106390966.

[17] [17]
Fletcher, H. R (1960). "Presidential Address". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 39: 1–27. doi:10.1080/13594866009441681.

[18] [18]
MacLeod, Anna M (1962). "Presidential Address". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 39 (3): 247–265. doi:10.1080/13594866209441709.

[19] [19]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 39 (5): xli–xlix. 1964. doi:10.1080/13594866409441733.

[20] [20]
"Special dinner Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 40: 146. 1965. doi:10.1080/03746606508685135.

[21] [21]
"Proceedings of the botanical society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 40 (4): xxix–xxxix. 1968. doi:10.1080/03746606808685176. hdl:2027/hvd.32044106390966.

[22] [22]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 41: 105–108. 1970. doi:10.1080/03746607008685210.

[23] [23]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 41 (4): 571–575. 1972. doi:10.1080/03746607208685257.

[24] [24]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 42 (2): 251–254. 1974. doi:10.1080/03746607408685287.

[25] [25]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 42 (4): 545–548. 1976. doi:10.1080/03746607608685317.

[26] [26]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43: 71–73. 1978. doi:10.1080/03746607808685340.

[27] [27]
"Proceedings of the botanical society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43 (2): 163–165. 1979. doi:10.1080/03746607908685350. hdl:2027/hvd.32044106390966.

[28] [28]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLIII 1979–80". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43 (3): 251–253. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608008685361.

[29] [29]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 43 (4): 345–346. 1981. doi:10.1080/03746608108685373.

[30] [30]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLVI 1981–82". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 44: 75–77. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608208685417.

[31] [31]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLVI 1882–83". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 44 (2): 165–167. 2010. doi:10.1080/03746608308685383.

[32] [32]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 44 (3): 287–289. 1984. doi:10.1080/03746608408685395.

[33] [33]
"Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 45 (2): 163–165. 1987. doi:10.1080/03746608708685428.

[34] [34]
"Proceedings of the botanical society of edinburgh session CXLXI 1987–88". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 45 (3): 299–301. 1988. doi:10.1080/03746608808684967.

[35] [35]
"Obituaries-Philip Morgans Smith (1941-2004)" (PDF). BSBI. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[36] [36]
"Professor John Proctor". The Independent. 6 November 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[37] [37]
"News Archive". Wildlife Information Centre. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[38] [38]
"BSS Council 2018/19". Botanical Society of Scotland. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

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[2]

[3]

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[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

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[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

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[25]

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[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

Botanical Society of Scotland

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Botanical Society of Scotland

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History

Activities

Publications

Presidents

Other notable members

See also

References

External links