BUCHANAN, JOHN (1819-98) was born at Levenside, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, and educated at the parish school there. Apprenticed to a pattern designer at the print and dyeworks, he made a study of botany and obtained many designs from leaves. Moving to Glasgow, he pursued his studies there until 1849, when he came to Otago in the Columbus and settled at North East Valley. There he began almost at once to collect plants, a pursuit which he maintained throughout life.

After a short visit to the Victorian goldfields he joined the staff of the triangulation survey in Otago, and when Hector took control he devoted himself to the study of the botany of the province, in pursuit of which he did much exploration and made reports on the occurrence of gold in the Clutha and Tuapeka rivers. He was afterwards permanently attached to the geological survey as botanist and draughtsman. Amongst his explorations were visits to the Campbell and Macquarie islands. He published a volume on the indigenous grasses of New Zealand (in 1880) and botanical notes on the Kaikoura mountains and Mount Egmont (1867). He was a founder of the New Zealand Institute, and contributed many papers to its transactions, besides illustrating most of the earlier volumes with his fine sketches. In 1880 he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society. When he retired (in 1885) he was elected a life member of the Wellington Philosophical Society. Buchanan died on 18 Oct 1898.

Trans. N.Z. Inst.; Otago Daily Times, 19 Oct 1898.

Reference: Volume 1, page 72

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