| Officers | Notes | The BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON was formed in 1901 by a union of the Botanical Seminar and the Washington Botanical Club. Early members included such notables as Erwin F. Smith, David Fairchild, and F.V. Coville along with J.N. Rose, O.F. Cooke, E.L. Greene, and F.H. Knowlton. The Society has met continuously since that time. Membership is available to all persons having an interest in Botany, and the other plant sciences. The society joined the Plant Conservation Alliance in 2017 and is also a member of the Native Plant Conservation Campaign.
Meetings are held monthly, at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, except July and August, on Zoom. (Before Covid, the meetings were held in the National Museum of Natural History.) There is usually a brief business meeting followed by some type of program with a speaker presenting topics of broad biological or botanical interest. Subjects are varied and usually include a slide presentation and question and answer session. The Society also sponsors field trips to various places in the area and organizes other functions to bring its members together including a banquet in December.
All interested persons are invited to join the Society and are encouraged to participate in all the activities. Annual dues are $10.00 per person per year or $15.00 per couple per year at the same address. Dues are due at the beginning of January, payable to the Treasurer. Details about membership and a membership application can be found is here.
There is an article by John A. Stevenson which appeared in the December 1970 Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. entitled "Highlights in the History of the Botanical Society of Washington".
(Pre-Covid: Dinner location and time: We usually met at 5:30 pm at the Elephant and Castle, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (Nearest Metro station: Archives/Navy Memorial - yellow and green lines) - It's 3 and 1/2 blocks from the National Museum of Natural History.)
2022 - 2023 Officers
President: Mary McKenna
Vice president: Gregory Stull
Corresponding Secretary: Kathy Bilton kathy at the domain fred.net
Treasurer: Paul PetersonA list of past presidents is here.
The BSW has been a member of the Washington Academy of Sciences since 1902.
Chris Puttock's presidential address in 2012: Oaks of Washington DC and beyond - What’s queer about Quercus?
The Entomological Society of Washington meets on the first Thursday of the month.
Weeds Gone Wild: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas is a site that Jil Swearingen has been instrumental in putting together.
There is a new website for the Flora of the Washington-Baltimore Area
Edd Barrows and D. S. Kjar have set up the Biodiversity Database of the Washington, D.C., Area (BDWA)
Larry Morse did a segment about endangered plants on the June 4, 1998, All Things Considered. You can hear the segment in the archives for that day.
June 2: Ethnobotanical Database