John Buchanan

John Buchanan, 1883–1890, Dunedin, by John Richard Morris. No Known Copyright Restrictions. Te Papa (O.041253) John Buchanan (13 October 1819 – 18 October 1898) was a New Zealand botanist and scientific artist. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society. then was foreman of a drawing shop, with a hobby of botany. He emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1852, in the early years of the Scottish settlement, and worked as a survey assistant and gold prospector during the Otago gold rush. During this time, he was an amateur botanist, collecting plant specimens that he sent to John Ross, a friend in Scotland who was also an amateur botanist.

He retired in June 1885 with a year's leave on full pay, officially starting his retirement in June 1886. He returned to his home in Dunedin on retirement, and died on 18 October 1898.

Works Botanical notes on the Kaikōura Mountains and Mount Egmont (1867) Manual of the indigenous grasses of New Zealand (1880)

Buchanan had some 29 publications in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, including his identification of new species.

Artworks Contributed woodcuts to Walter Buller's Manual of New Zealand Birds Contributed scientific illustrations to Frederick Hutton's Fishes of New Zealand