News – Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

Botany for birders!

We're always keen to encourage all wildlife lovers - and especially anyone who is already recording other taxa - to have a go at plant recording. So if you know anyone who fits that category, why not send them a link to this opinion piece from BSBI in the Winter 2024 issue of BTO News? It sets out some of the many reasons why birders might enjoy looking down as well as up!

New Year Plant Hunt

Registrations are flooding in for our fourteenth New Year Plant Hunt, which runs from Sunday 29 December 2024 to Wednesday 1 January 2025. Registration isn't mandatory but if you're starting out in botany, it's a great way to access spotter sheets, tips on photographing plants, details of group Hunts and much more.

MapMate

Mark Yates has emailed all his MapMate users sharing his plan to retire. The BSBI Data Plan Steering Group have created an update for all current MapMate users.

Sad news

We are very sad to inform you that Roy Maycock has passed away. Roy had been a BSBI member since 1953, was County Recorder (VCR) for Buckinghamshire from 1986 to 2020 and then Emeritus VCR. The funeral is at 2pm on 15th November at Crownhill Crematorium, Milton Keynes. Please email us if you wish to attend so we can notify the family.

Training webinars coming up for this autumn/ winter

Bookings are now open for our new series of free training webinars - visit the Field Meetings & Indoor Events programme for more details and to book.

Exciting volunteering opportunity!

An opportunity has arisen to become the BSBI’s new Field Meetings Secretary for England. Find out more.

Book for the BSBI AGM

Everyone is welcome to attend the 2024 AGM and enjoy the introductory talks, although only BSBI members can vote in the AGM.

BSBI Chair on BBC Radio4

Chris Miles, Chair of the BSBI Board of Trustees, was interviewed on 3rd October on BBC Radio 4's 'Open Country' about plants found in the Scottish Borders. Available on catch-up until end of October via BBC Sounds.

Autumn membership special offer now open!

Our discounted membership offer - up to 15 months of membership benefits for the price of 12 - opened on 1st October. There has never been a better time to join BSBI! Already a member? Please spread the word across your networks.

Annual Review 2023/24 published

Our latest Annual Review has just been published! Members will receive a copy with their print or digital autumn mailing (due out during the first week in October) or you can view a digital version right now.

Flora of County Wexford wins Presidents' Award

Paul Green's Flora has won this year's BSBI and Wild Flower Society Presidents' Award.

Ghost Orchid refound in Britain!

BSBI member Richard Bate reports that, after 30 years of searching, he has refound a Ghost Orchid, a species not seen in Britain since 2009. The find has been authenticated by BSBI; our press release tells the full story and our Ghost Orchid page has links to media coverage of Richard's find.

Sad news/ funeral details

We were very sad to inform you recently that Jeremy Ison had passed away. Jeremy joined BSBI in 1978 and had served as County Recorder for Devon, and on Science & Data/ Records Committee, and had co-ordinated the Referees team... he was much loved and will be greatly missed. Jeremy's funeral will take place at 3pm on Tuesday 13 August at Manor Park Cemetery, London E7 0NP. There is parking and it’s a 5 minute walk from the Elizabeth line. There will be a gathering afterwards in Hackney.

BSBI at the XX International Botanical Congress

BSBI was well represented at this year's International Botanical Congress in Madrid. Read reports from the event (Days 1&2, Days 3&4, Days 5-7), and view videos of some of the talks, especially the opening lecture 'Why Botany? Why Now?' given by BSBI trustee Dr Sandy Knapp.

Hundreds of new species accounts!

797 detailed species accounts have just been made available online. Prepared by County Recorder Ralph Forbes for his Flora of Fermanagh, each account provides information on the plant's growth form, preferred habitats, methods of reproduction (both sexual and vegetative), its uses, how it got its name, and distribution at British, European and global scales. Visit the Fermanagh Species Accounts and browse the A-Z listing, or use the helpful search facility to go straight to a particular species.

BSBI member receives honorary degree

Dr Margaret Bradshaw MBE, a BSBI member since 1951 and the author of the acclaimed Teesdale's Special Flora published Princeton University Press, will become one of Durham University's 2024 honorary graduates at a ceremony in July. Congratulations to Margaret!

British & Irish Botany 6.1 published

We've just published the latest issue of British & Irish Botany, our Open Access scientific journal: free to read and free to publish in. This is the first issue under the editorship of Dr Stuart Desjardins. There are six papers and the subjects covered include Cairngorms treeline species, a new whitebeam, two scurvy-grasses, four hawkweeds & a long-lost historic garden! Read the summary or go straight to the new issue.

BSBI Wales Officer appointed

We’re delighted to have been awarded funding from the Nature Networks Programme to run our Priority Plants on SSSIs project in Wales over the next two years. This is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh Government.

The Priority Plants on SSSIs in Wales project will use BSBI botanical recorders to survey and assess the individual special plant features on SSSIs in Wales in order to improve evidence of their condition and determine future management. This project will be supported by a dedicated BSBI Wales Officer and we have just appointed ecologist Alastair Hotchkiss to the role. Alastair's first day in post will be on 10 June.

Science strategy published

We have just published the BSBI Science Strategy 2024-2029, which outlines some of the new science projects that we are developing. Subjects include phenology, aquatics, summit floras, local change, priority species and plant pathogens. More details to follow about these exciting plans!

Dates for your diary

Visit our Field Meetings and Indoor Events page to find dates, details and booking links for this year's programme: from spring workshops and conferences, through summer field meetings across Britain and Ireland, to autumn's conferences and ending with our fourteenth New Year Plant Hunt which straddles the end of 2024 and takes us into 2025.

Vegetative Key reprinted

The second edition of John Poland & Eric Clement's Vegetative Key to the British Flora has just been reprinted - it had been out of print for some time. The reprint incorporates corrections made since the first printing, and is now available from Summerfield Books and other natural history book-sellers.

New Year Plant Hunt

Our thirteenth New Year Plant Hunt ran from 30th December to 2nd January. Results have been analysed: an in-depth report and a press release/ summary are available here.

From Russia with love?

An article in The Herald reports on how seed collected in Russia and frozen at RBG Edinburgh is helping to conserve two rare Scottish plants.

Interesting paper on two thistle species

A paper has been published by the Ecological Society of America on how Climate warming increases insect-driven seed removal of two elaiosome-bearing invasive thistle species. Both the species discussed in the paper occur in Britain and Ireland, where neither is considered invasive.

BSBI trustee honoured

Congratulations to Prof Pete Hollingsworth, BSBI trustee and Director of Science & Deputy Keeper at RBG Edinburgh. Pete was awarded a CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours' List for services to botanical science.

British & Irish Botanical Conference: videos

The videos from this year's Conference, which took place on 2nd December at University of Newcastle, are now available here.

New social media platforms for BSBI

We're establishing a presence on three social media platforms - BlueSky, Threads (only on smartphones) and TikTok - to complement our presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you use one of these social media platforms, why not give us a follow?

New paper published

'Genetic monitoring for effective plant conservation: An example using the threatened Saxifraga hirculus L. in Scotland' by Aline Finger, Iain Macdonald & BSBI trustee Pete Hollingsworth. It's Open Access so you can read it here.

Sad news

We are sorry to report the sad news that Michael Braithwaite, long-time County Recorder for Berwickshire and past President of BSBI, has passed away.

New paper published

A paper has been published in Environmental Science & Policy titled 'How do gardeners define ‘invasive’? Implications for invasion science and environmental policy instruments on invasive species'. Read it in full here.

International Botanical Congress

Online registration is now open for the International Botanical Congress, to be held in Madrid 21-27 July 2024. More info here.

BSBI AGM 2023

Our Annual General Meeting was held online on 16th November; members voted unanimously on proposals to (re-)elect three trustees, a President-elect and two Hon. Members: details are on the AGM page. The AGM was preceded by short talks on urban botany and on the Society's activities and successes over the past year. The talks were recorded and the videos are available on our YouTube channel or via the links on the AGM page.

News about non-native species

The latest issue of Non-native species News has several items which may be of interest to botanists. Read the issue here.

BSBI Photo Competition 2023

The winners have been announced in the 2023 BSBI Photo Competition. Congratulations to Bert Barnett who won the 'Plants in the Landscape' category and Philippa Swann who won the 'People & Plants' category, and thank you to everyone who took part and to Summerfield Books who provided the prizes.

Scottish Botanists' Conference

Talks from this event, which took place on 4th November in Edinburgh, were recorded and are available here where you will also find links to exhibits, abstracts and hand-outs from the workshops.

BSBI member in the news!

Dr Margaret Bradshaw MBE, a BSBI member since 1951, has been in the news lately, talking about the rare plants of Teesdale which she has spent many years recording. Read an interview with Margaret in The Guardian and listen to her on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House (starts at 55.26).

BSBI eBooks launched!

All BSBI Handbooks, and several county Floras, are now available to buy as eBooks; we hope to make more BSBI books available digitally in future. Visit the eBooks page to find out more.

Irish Autumn Meeting

Presentation slides from this event, which took place on 21st October in Dublin, are available here.

Recorders' videos to watch

The 2023 BSBI Recorders' Meeting was held at FSC Preston Montford on 7th October. We recorded four of the talks and they are now available to view on the BSBI YouTube channel.

Become a BSBI trustee

We currently have three trustee vacancies: one to join the Board of Trustees, one to become our Hon. Gen. Secretary and one to become our Hon. Treasurer. Visit our Vacancies page to find out more about these exciting opportunities to help shape and govern the Society's work.

BSBI News #154 published

The latest issue of our colourful membership magazine has been published. Copies have gone out to all BSBI members, both print and digital, but if you are not yet a member, head over here to view or download a sample issue, here to view or download one full free article and here to join BSBI and enjoy three issues per year of BSBI News.

Orchid discovered new to Northern Ireland

The orchid Spiranthes spiralis (Autumn Lady's-tresses) has been discovered for the first time in Northern Ireland, by a BSBI member out walking with his mum! The story has been picked up by the BBC and other media outlets - find out more.

BSBI Annual Review 2022-23

Read our latest Annual Review to find out what BSBI's wonderful volunteer members have achieved.

Autumn Membership offer now open

Join BSBI in October and you could enjoy up to 15 months of membership benefits for the price of 12 months! Find out more about all the benefits of BSBI membership and how joining our growing ranks will help British and Irish wildflowers.

State of Nature 2023

The latest report has been published and includes BSBI data - find out how plant records collected by BSBI members and supporters fed into the nationally important State of Nature 2023 report.

Media spotlight on Scotland's highest birch sapling

Sarah Watts (BSBI Committee for Scotland) appeared on BBC Scotland on 19th September to talk about the highest birch sapling in Scotland (on Ben Nevis). Listen to Sarah here (starts at 02:50:40). More about altitudinal records here.