John Buchanan (13 October 1819 – 1898) was a New Zealand botanist and scientific artist. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society. [1]
Buchanan was born in Dunbartonshire, Scotland, and in his early life apprenticed as a calico pattern designer. [2] He emigrated to Dunedin in 1852, not long after the settlement had been established, working as a survey assistant and gold prospector, during the Otago Gold Rush. [2] [3] During this period, Buchanan was an amateur botanist, collecting plant specimens he sent to contacts in Scotland. [2] On the recommendation of Joseph Dalton Hooker, Buchanan became employed as a botanist for James Hector's survey of Otago and the West Coast of the South Island. [2]
In 1865, Buchanan was employed by the Colonial Museum in Wellington (now Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa), after Hector was appointed as the director of the institution. [2] During the next 20 years, Buchanan collected specimens for the museum and surveyed the plants growing in the Wellington Botanic Garden. [2]
Buchanan also had some 29 publications in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, including his identification of new species.