About the Botanical Club
The Philadelphia Botanical Club held its first meeting December 1, 1891, at the Academy of Natural Sciences with eight founders present. The objectives of the new club were "to further the interests of Botany and to make a checklist and herbarium of the plants found within the radius of fifty miles from Philadelphia."

At a meeting on December 22, 1891, nineteen members voted to accept the Isaac C. Martindale collection of plants representing most of the locally known species. In addition to monthly meetings, the Club began to sponsor field trips to study flora in the vicinity of Philadelphia. The first of these trips was a visit to Bartram's Garden on February 14, 1892. In February 1909, the first issue of the botanical journal Bartonia was published. The journal was named in honor of William P. C. Barton, Professor of Botany at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the first local flora of Philadelphia (published 1818).

Presently, monthly lectures of botanical interest are held in Philadelphia from September through May. Many field trips are scheduled from mostly April to October. Special events are occasionally given for its members. Additionally, the club publishes the journal Bartonia that is free to its members.

Anyone with an interest in plants is encouraged to join. (Membership information.) Additional information on membership and programs may be obtained by writing to the Club in care of the Department of Botany, The Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1195.