British flora Archives

Sir Edward Salisbury: Visionary Botanist and Kew Gardens Director

Sir Edward James Salisbury (1886-1978), a prominent English botanist and ecologist.

The Graveyard Garden April 16, 1886 Today is the birthday of the English botanist and ecologist, Sir Edward Salisbury. The youngest of nine children, Edward’s passion for plants started as a young boy. Edward loved to go out into the countryside to dig up plants to grow in his own garden patch at home. Once…

William Withering: The Physician Who Unlocked Foxglove’s Healing Power

William Withering, an English physician, botanist, geologist, and chemist. He is most renowned for his work with the foxglove plant and its use in treating dropsy, a condition now known as edema associated with heart failure.

Fond of Foxgloves March 17, 1741 Today is the birthday of the English botanist geologist, physician, and chemist William Withering. William became the very first person to study the bioactivity of the flower known as Digitalis or Foxglove. In this respect, William’s training as a physician served him well. And the story goes that one…

Franklyn Hugh Perring: The Dot Map Mastermind and Botanical Conservationist

The Atlas of the British Flora Today is the birthday of the botanist Franklyn Hugh Perring who is born in London on this day. Franklyn was the best kind of botanist, possessing the eagerness of an amateur and the training of a true professional. He also had an outstanding field botanist with a phenomenal memory…

The Dot Map Mastermind: Celebrating Franklyn Hugh Perring

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 1, 1927 On this day, dear garden friends, in London, the remarkable Franklyn Hugh Perring drew his first breath – a man destined to transform how we understand the verdant tapestry of…

Hewett Cottrell Watson: The Father of British Plant Geography and Darwin’s Forerunner

by Hewett Cottrell Watson 21 Nov 1859 My dear Sir Once [I started] to read the ‘Origin’ I could not rest [until] I had galloped through [all of it]. I shall now begin to re-read it more deliberately. Meantime I am tempted to write you [my] first impressions… 1st. Your leading idea will assuredly become…

The Naturalist’s Pen: Gilbert White’s April Observations

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 19, 1792 On this day, dear readers, we are granted a most delightful peek into the journal of Gilbert White, the venerable naturalist of Selborne, England. His keen observations of the natural…