Botanical Survey of India

The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) is a governmental research institution headquartered in Kolkata, formally instituted on 13 February 1890 under the direction of George King, its first director, who had been superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta since 1871. The Calcutta Garden became its headquarters, with regional responsibility for Bengal Presidency, Burma, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Prior to 1890, botanical gardens existed at Sibpur, Pune, Saharanpur, and Madras, with the Saharanpur garden, dating earlier than 1750, acquired in 1817 for medicinal plant cultivation. Initially, the agency focused on cultivating plants for commercial and trade purposes. Today, it falls under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and is responsible for research and conservation of Indian flora, botanical surveys, germplasm and gene bank maintenance, and taxonomic research. The BSI publishes works such as the annual bilingual Plant Discoveries and the biannual journal Nelumbo. As of 2019, India had recorded thousands of species across angiosperms, gymnosperms, pteridophytes, fungi, algae, bryophytes, lichens, and microbes. Since 1954, the agency has discovered one new family, 42 new genera, and 1,719 new plant species. It also offers fellowships for research in plant taxonomy and post-doctoral research opportunities.