{{Short description|National learned society for botanists of Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Use British English|date=October 2014}} 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<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/content/societys-activities |title=Activities |publisher=Botanical Society of Scotland |access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/content/about-bss |title=About the BSS |publisher=Botanical Society of Scotland |access-date=20 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318184307/http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/content/about-bss |archive-date=18 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
==History== 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]].<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608609468215|title = Richard Parnell, M.D|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 16|issue = 1–4|pages = 6–8|year = 2010}}</ref>
In 1935 the Botanical Society of Edinburgh incorporated the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, founded in 1875, and included its name in its title.<ref name=Watling>{{Cite journal | last1 = Watling | first1 = R. | doi = 10.1080/03746608608685403 | title = 150 Years of paddock stools: A history of agaric ecology and floristics in Scotland | journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh | volume = 45 | pages = 1–42 | year = 1986 }}</ref> 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 [[Charitable incorporated organisation|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 [[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.
==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]], 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]].<ref name=T&F>{{cite web | url=http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tped20 | title=Plant Ecology & Diversity | publisher=Taylor & Francis | work=Taylor & Francis Website | access-date=15 February 2014}}</ref> Plant Ecology and Diversity was accepted for inclusion in [[Scopus]] in 2010 and it received its first impact factor, 2.053, in 2011.
==Presidents== Source (1836-1937):<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/%20.pdf|title=The Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1836-1936|page=15|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311205404/http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/%20.pdf|archive-date=11 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> ;Botanical Society of Edinburgh {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| *1836-1839 : Prof. [[Robert Graham (botanist)|Robert Graham]] (1st President) *1839-1840 : [[Robert Kaye Greville]] (1st term) *1840-1841 : David Falconar *1841-1842 : Prof. Robert Christison *1842-1843 : [[Patrick Neill (naturalist)|Patrick Neill]] *1843-1844 : Prof. [[Robert Graham (botanist)|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 (naturalist)|John Fleming]] (1st term) *1848-1849 : Prof. [[John Hutton Balfour]] (2nd term) *1849-1850 : Rev. Prof. [[John Fleming (naturalist)|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 (botanist)|Edward Madden]] *1856-1857 : Rev. Prof. [[John Fleming (naturalist)|John Fleming]] (3rd term) *1857-1858 : [[William Seller]] (2nd term) *1858-1859 : [[Andrew Murray (naturalist)|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 (botanist)|Alexander Dickson]] (1st term) *1865-1866 : [[Robert Kaye Greville]] (3rd term) *1866-1867 : [[Isaac Anderson-Henry]] *1867-1868 : Charles Jenner *1868-1869 : [[Hugh Cleghorn (forester)|Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn]], the "father of Indian forestry" *1869-1870 : [[Walter Elliot (naturalist)|Sir Walter Elliot]] *1870-1871 : [[Alexander Buchan (meteorologist)|Alexander Buchan]] *1871-1872 : Prof. [[Charles Wyville Thomson]] *1872-1873 : James McNab *1873-1877 : Sir [[Robert Christison|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 (botanist)|Alexander Dickson]] (2nd term) *1887-1889 : [[William Craig (botanist)|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 : [[David Paul (minister)|Rev. David Paul]] *1901-1902 : Col. Fred Bailey, R.E. *1902-1904 : Prof. [[James W. H. Trail|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 (botanist)|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]]<ref name= RSE/> *1939-1942 : [[James Robert Matthews]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594864109441373|title = Presidential Address—Floral Morphology and its Bearing on the Classification of Angiosperms|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 33|issue = 2|pages = 69–82|year = 1941|last1 = Matthews|first1 = J. R}}</ref> *1942-1943 : [[Robert James Douglas Graham]]<ref name= RSE/> *1943-1945 : [[Edward Wyllie Fenton]]<ref name= RSE>{{cite web|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|title=Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|publisher= RSE|access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref> *1945-1947 : [[James Wyllie Gregor]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594864709441409|title = Presidential Address: Some Reflections on Intra-Specific Ecological Variation and its Classification|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 34|issue = 4|pages = 377–391|year = 1947|last1 = Gregor|first1 = J. W}}</ref> *1947-1950 : Elizabeth (Helen) May Knox <ref>{{cite book|title=International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950|first=Catherine|last= Haines|page=162}}</ref> *1950-1951 : Prof. Sir [[William Wright Smith]] (3rd term)<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594865309441595|title = Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 36|issue = 2|pages = vii–xiii|year = 1953}}</ref> *1951-1953 : [[John Macqueen Cowan]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594865409441605|title = The Botanical Society of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 36|issue = 3|pages = 181–184|year = 1954|last1 = Cowan|first1 = J. M| pmid=30161412 |pmc = 5586696}}</ref> *1953-1955 : William Burns <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594865609441624|title = Presidential Address|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 37|pages = 1–10|year = 2010|last1 = Burns|first1 = W}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594865609441623|title = Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 37|pages = i–xiii|year = 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594865509441613|title = Proceedings of the Botanical of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 36|issue = 4|pages = xx–xxv|year = 2010}}</ref> *1955-1957 : [[James Alexander MacDonald (botanist)|James Alexander MacDonald]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594865709441647|title = Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 37|issue = 2|pages = xiv–xxvi|year = 1957|hdl = 2027/hvd.32044106390966|hdl-access = free}}</ref> *1957-1960 : [[Harold Fletcher (botanist)|Harold Roy Fletcher]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594866009441681|title = Presidential Address|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 39|pages = 1–27|year = 1960|last1 = Fletcher|first1 = H. R}}</ref> *1960-1962 : Anna M. Macleod <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594866209441709|title = Presidential Address|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 39|issue = 3|pages = 247–265|year = 1962|last1 = MacLeod|first1 = Anna M}}</ref> *1962-1964 : Prof. John Walton <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/13594866409441733|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 39|issue = 5|pages = xli–xlix|year = 1964|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref> *1964-1966 : [[Douglas Mackay Henderson]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746606508685135|title = Special dinner Botanical Society of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 40|pages = 146|year = 1965}}</ref> *1966-1968 : J. Grant Roger <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746606808685176|title = Proceedings of the botanical society of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 40|issue = 4|pages = xxix–xxxix|year = 1968|hdl = 2027/hvd.32044106390966|hdl-access = free}}</ref> *1968-1970 : Prof. Robert Brown <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746607008685210|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 41|pages = 105–108|year = 1970|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref> *1970-1972 : [[David H. N. Spence|David Hugh Neven-Spence]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746607208685257|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 41|issue = 4|pages = 571–575|year = 1972|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref> *1972-1974 : [[Brian Burtt|Brian Lawrence Burtt]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746607408685287|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 42|issue = 2|pages = 251–254|year = 1974|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref> *1974-1976 : W.W. Fletcher <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746607608685317|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 42|issue = 4|pages = 545–548|year = 1976|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref> *1976-1978 : A.F. Dyer <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746607808685340|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 43|pages = 71–73|year = 1978|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref> *1978-1980 : William W. Gauld <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746607908685350|title = Proceedings of the botanical society of Edinburgh|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 43|issue = 2|pages = 163–165|year = 1979|hdl = 2027/hvd.32044106390966|hdl-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608008685361|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLIII 1979–80|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 43|issue = 3|pages = 251–253|year = 2010}}</ref> *1980-1982 : Prof. Robert MacGregor Martyn Crawford <ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608108685373|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 43|issue = 4|pages = 345–346|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh | date=1981 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608208685417|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLVI 1981–82|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 44|pages = 75–77|year = 2010}}</ref> *1982-1984 : Prof. [[Charles Henry Gimingham]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608308685383|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Session CXLVI 1882–83|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 44|issue = 2|pages = 165–167|year = 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608408685395|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 44|issue = 3|pages = 287–289|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh | date=1984 }}</ref> *1984-1986 : [[Roy Watling]] *1986-1988 : Prof. [[John Albert Raven]]<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608708685428|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 45|issue = 2|pages = 163–165|year = 1987|title = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1080/03746608808684967|title = Proceedings of the botanical society of edinburgh session CXLXI 1987–88|journal = Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh|volume = 45|issue = 3|pages = 299–301|year = 1988}}</ref> *1988-1990 : Philip Morgans Smith <ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Wats25p221.pdf|title= Obituaries-Philip Morgans Smith (1941-2004)|publisher=BSBI|access-date= 11 August 2018}}</ref> }}
;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 <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-john-proctor-423176.html|title=Professor John Proctor|work= The Independent|access-date= 11 August 2018|date=2006-11-06}}</ref> *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 <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildlifeinformation.co.uk/archive_news.php|title=News Archive|publisher=Wildlife Information Centre|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812021555/http://www.wildlifeinformation.co.uk/archive_news.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> *2017-2019 : Dr Brian Ballinger <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/content/bss-council-2017_2018|title=BSS Council 2018/19|publisher=Botanical Society of Scotland|access-date= 11 August 2018}}</ref> *2019-2021 : Dr Julia Wilson *2021–2023: Dr Jill Thompson *2023-present: Prof. Jonathan Silvertown
==Other notable members== * [[Albert, Prince Consort]] * [[Queen Victoria]], the society's first patron * [[Alexander Adie]] * [[Alexander von Humboldt]] * [[Cardale Babington]] * [[William Brand (botanist)|William Brand]], founder member * [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Caithness)|Robert Brown]] * [[Alexander Bryson (horologist)|Alexander Bryson]] * [[William Carruthers (botanist)|William Carruthers]] * [[Thomas Frederic Cheeseman]] * [[Charles Darwin]], author of ''[[On The Origin of Species]]'' * [[Job Bicknell Ellis]] * [[Godfrey Howitt]] * [[Edward Janczewski]] * [[Paul Gordon Jarvis]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]], plant ecologist, Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at the [[University of Edinburgh]] * [[George Lawson (botanist)|George Lawson]], the "father of Canadian botany", was assistant secretary and curator of the society * [[Lars Levi Læstadius]] * [[Duncan Napier]] * [[Robert Thomson (physician)|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
==See also== * [[Flora of Scotland]] * [[Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society]] * [[Scottish Natural Heritage]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== <!-- per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only --> * {{Official website|http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/}} * [https://botanyjournals.blogspot.com/ Botanical Scientific Journals]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1836 establishments in Scotland]] [[Category:Scottish botanists| ]] [[Category:Botanical societies|Scotland]] [[Category:British biology societies]] [[Category:Charities based in Edinburgh]] [[Category:Flora of Scotland]] [[Category:Learned societies of Scotland]] [[Category:Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]] [[Category:Scientific organizations established in 1836]]