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 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.
Contents
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.
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 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. 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):
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
2021–2023: 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, 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