Botanical Survey of India (BSI) is the apex research organization under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt. of India for carrying out taxonomic and floristic studies on wild plant resources of the country.
It was established in 1890 with the basic objective to explore the
plant resources of the country and to identify the plant's species with economic virtues. Sir George King, the then Superintendent of the ‘Royal Botanic Garden’ Calcutta was appointed as first ex-officio Honorary Director of the BSI.
After independence, the department was reorganized in 1954 by the Government of India as a part of the scientific development of the country. During the successive plan
periods, the functional base of BSI was further expanded to include various new areas such as inventorying of endemic, rare and threatened plant species; evolving conservation strategies; studies on fragile ecosystems and protected areas, like wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and biosphere reserves,
multiplication and maintenance of endemic and threatened plant species, wild ornamentals, etc., in Botanic Gardens and Orchidaria; documentation of traditional knowledge associated with plants and development of National Database of herbarium specimens/live collection/ botanical paintings/
illustrations, plant distribution and nomenclature, plant uses, etc.
