Dr Arthur Broughton
J.W.White
Withering had a diligent Bristol correspondent in Dr. Arthur Broughton, Physician to the royal infirmary from 1780 to 1786, when he was succeeded by the first Edward Long Fox. He published several botanical works, including an anonymous volume of brief diagnoses of British plants. Subsequently he settled in Jamaica, and died there a few years later. His name is preserved in the genus of Orchids named Broughtonia by Robert Brown. Whilst at Bristol Dr. Broughton had discovered Bupleurum tenuissimum [Slender Hare's-ear] by the tidal Avon bellow the city; and in company with Dr. Stokes he found a new locality for Asparagus [Asparagus prostratus - Garden Asparagus].
In the History and Antiquities of the City of Bristol by William Barrett, Surgeon, F.S.A., Wraxall, 1789, there is " A catalogue of the rarer plants, etc., found about St. Vincent's Rock, by the ingenious physician and Botanist Dr. Broughton, of Bristol."
The Doctor had cast a wide net, for his list contains Arenaria rubra [Spergularia rubra - Sand Spurrey], Galium montanum [G. palustre - Common Marsh-bedstraw], Galeopsis ladanum [Broad-leaved Hemp-nettle though is most likely a mistake for G. angustifolia - Red Hemp-nettle], Monotropa [Hypopitys monotropa - Yellow Bird's-nest] and Cystopteris fragilis [Brittle Bladder-fern - ours is ssp. fragilis]. His collections, chiefly botanical, were bequeathed to the city and deposited in the City Library, King Street.
No one knows what has become of them, and the city librarian tells me there was no trace of such collections at King Street when he took office in 1893.
Flora of Gloucestershire
Dr A. Broughton, M.D. (d. 1796 or 1803?), resident at Bristol from 1780 to 1786, during which time he published several botanical works, including the Enchiridion Botanicum, in which he speaks of examining plants in the field.
He discovered Bupleurum tenuissimum [Slender Hare's-ear] below St. Vincent's Rocks, which was published by Withering as a local record. In the History and Antiquities of the City of Bristol by W. Barrett there is " A catalogue of the rarer plants, etc., found about St. Vincent's Rock, by the ingenious physician and Botanist Dr. Broughton of Bristol."
His Herbarium was given to the City Library, but appears to have been lost.