Carl Ludwig Willdenow

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"Willd." redirects here. Not to be confused with Wild.
Carl Ludwig Willdenow
University of Halle
Scientific career
Fieldsbotany
pharmacy
taxonomy
InstitutionsHumboldt University of Berlin

Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German

botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was also a mentor of Alexander von Humboldt, one of the earliest and best known phytogeographers. He also influenced Christian Konrad Sprengel
, who pioneered the study of plant pollination and floral biology.

Biography

Willdenow was born in

Botanical Garden in Berlin
. Some of the specimens include those collected by Humboldt.

Humboldt notes that as a young man he was unable to identify plants using Willdenow's Flora Berolinensis. He subsequently visited Willdenow without an appointment and found him to be a kindred soul only four years older and in three weeks he became an enthusiastic botanist.[1]

In his 1792 book, Grundriss der Kräuterkunde or Geschichte der Pflanzen Willdenow came up with an idea to explain restricted plant distributions. Willdenow suggested that it was based on past history with mountains surrounded by seas with different sets of plants initially restricted to the peaks which then spread downward and out with receding sea levels. This would fit with the Biblical notion of floods. This was contrary to earlier assertions by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann that plants were distributed as they had been in the past and that there had been no changes.[2]

The standard author abbreviation Willd. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[3]

Works

See also

References

  1. doi:10.1127/0006-8152/2006/0126-0509
    .
  2. ^ Morrone, Juan (2009). Evolutionary Biogeography: An Integrative Approach with Case Studies. Columbia University Press. p. 25.
  3. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Willd.

External links

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Carl Ludwig Willdenow
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