[1] The editors-in-chief are Marcus A. Koch (Heidelberg University), Martin A. Lysak, (Masaryk University), and Karol Marhold (Slovak Academy of Sciences).

[1][2] The journal was established in Vienna in 1851 under founding editor-in-chief Alexander Skofitz as Österreichisches Botanisches Wochenblatt (Austrian Botanical Weekly).

[3] In 1858 the publication was renamed Österreichische Botanische Zeitschrift (Austrian Journal of Botany) and it continued under that title from volume 9 to 91.

In 1943 and 1944, two volumes were published under the title Wiener botanische Zeitschrift (Viennese Botanical Journal).

[2] The journal is abstracted and indexed in Agricola, Biological Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Service, EMBiology, International Bibliography of Periodical Literature, Scopus, Current Contents/Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences, The Zoological Record, BIOSIS Previews, and the Science Citation Index.