Welcome to the blog of the Botanical Society of Scotland
We launched in May 2020. We wanted to provide a focal point for members, in view of the cancellation of our usual programme of visits and lectures. Through this blog, we are hoping to supplement the information available on our main website, our Facebook pages and our News publication.
So far, we have had a steady flow of blogs, and we introduced ‘Plant of the Week’ in which we feature a species which you may easily find on your walks. Feel free to submit a blog article to us, preferably with at least one image. Send us a message through the contact form and we will get back to you.
Our main field activity at present is to gather data for our Urban Flora Project (https://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/Urban_Flora_of_Scotland), so part of the blog will be about this, and we hope to encourage more of you to participate.
To help newcomers, we have also added a LEARN page, which will be further developed in the coming weeks and we hope will be a valuable resource.
Don’t forget, our website (https://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/) is useful for basic information about us and provides access for our members to our BSS News and our international journal Plant Ecology and Diversity. Our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/botsocscot/ is enjoyed by many people.
Plant of the Week, 21st November 2022 – Sun Spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia)
A poisonous archaeophyte, well-known to the herbalists of old. It grows on cultivated land and its seeds are transported by ants.
Plant of the Week, 14th November 2022: Mind-your-own-business (Soleirolia soleirolii)
This alien plant is an urban specialist – it spills out of gardens and likes cracks in pavements.
Plant of the Week – 7th November 2022 – Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)
A native plant with a confusing name, not common in Scotland except on the west coast.
Plant of the Week – 31st October 2022 – Pineapple Weed (Matricaria discoidea)
An alien species well-established along roads and tracks, used as an insect repellent by indigenous North Americans.
Plant of the Week – 24th October 2022 – Shaggy Soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata)
A daisy from Peru that’s popping up here and there in Scotland, also a close relative that we rarely see here.
Plant of the Week – 17th October 2022 – Himalayan Knotweed (Koenigia polystachya)
We went to Ayrshire looking for the Giant Knotweed but what we found instead was a large population of the Himalayan Knotweed.
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Botany in Scotland 
I found your link through Chris Jeffree who I had written to for permission to use one of his photographs, a red admiral, for a poem. I look forward to reading the blog.
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