John McConnell Black

Who was John McConnell Black?

John McConnell Black was a Scottish botanist who emigrated to Australia in 1877 and eventually documented and illustrated thousands of flora in South Australia in the early 20th century. His publications assisted many botanists and scientists in the decades that followed. He was the younger brother of theatre and hotel manager Helen Carte.

Black was born at Wigtown, Scotland and educated at Wigtown Grammar School, the Edinburgh Academy, the College School, Taunton and a commercial trade school in Dresden, Germany. He was a linguist, able to understand Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. He migrated to Australia in 1877 and developed an interest in Australian Aboriginal languages. In 1879 Black married Alice Denford and they had a daughter and three sons. He began working as a journalist in 1883. After a tour of South America and Europe following his mother's death in 1903, Black focused on systematic botany. In 1909 he published The Naturalised Flora of South Australia. His The Flora of South Australia was published in four parts during 1922 to 1929, and described 2,430 species, both indigenous and naturalized.