On this day in Scottish history - Scottish horticulturist William McNab died

Scottish horticulturist William McNab, curator of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, died on 12 September 1848. McNab was passionate about plants and was responsible for the re-emergence of Edinburgh's Botanic Garden into one of the world's greatest gardens, after it had been neglected for decades.

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Under his curatorship, more than 4,000 plant species were transferred from the Garden's site on Leith Walk (which had become very polluted) through to Inverleith, site of the current gardens. The Garden was founded in 1670, originally to house medicinal plants.

(Image copyright Tom Richardson)