Johann Franz Drège

Johann Fran(t)z Drège (or Jean François Drège) (25 March 1794

descent.

Drège received his first training in horticulture at

.

In 1826 he travelled with his younger brother, Eduard, to join his older brother, Carl, who had been working as an apothecary in the Cape since 1821. They established themselves as professional natural history collectors, with Carl concentrating on zoological and Franz on botanical specimens. Their contract with their European contacts expired in 1826, and they decided to launch their own business.

August 1826 – May 1827

After starting his collecting career in Cape Town and the surrounding areas, Franz set out on his first journey to the interior. His itinerary included the following places: Hex River Pass, Beaufort West, Nuweveld Mountains, Rhenosterkop, Uitvlugt, Murraysburg district, Winterveld, Richmond district, Groot Tafelberg, Nieuwejaarsfontein, Ezelsfontein and De Aar. He followed almost the same route on the return leg of his journey, and was back in Paarl on 16 May 1827. Carl sold his apothecary in Paarl in 1829 and Franz, who had been collecting in the vicinity, decided to go with him on the first of a number of shared trips.

May 1829 – February 1830

Their journey on this particular expedition took them along the following route:

.

June 1830 – January 1831

Having been granted permission to travel to the northern border of the

Wupperthal

on horseback.

July 1831 – June 1832

This trip took the brothers as far east as

, though the Drèges did not accompany him. The return leg of the expedition followed almost the same route back and they were back at Glenfillan by 25 June.

July 1832 – October 1832

Within two weeks the brothers set off from

, Port Elizabeth and Enon Mission.

October 1832 – May 1833

The brothers Drège immediately prepared for their next expedition and shortly left Enon, travelling through

Clanwilliam

and the mountains of Vanrhynsdorp, before returning to Europe in 1834.

Summary

Drège's specimens typically had details of the collection site, such as altitude and other geophysical information. The quality of his collecting is only matched by that of

William Burchell

. In his Zwei Pflanzengeographische Documente (Leipzig 1843), he lists the species he collected alphabetically with cross references to localities. In an introduction by the Prussian Ernst H. F. Meyer (1791-1858), who was at that time professor of botany at Königsberg, an attempt is made for the first time to divide the vegetation of the Cape Colony into phytogeographical zones. Rudolf Marloth referred to him as "the father of South African phytogeography". Harry Bolus and Peter MacOwan praised his meticulous collecting and his astounding zest in covering vast areas of the countryside. In total he collected over 200 000 specimens embracing some 8 000 species. He is commemorated in Dregea Eckl. & Zeyh., Neodregea from the family Colchicaceae and numerous species. The routes taken on his expeditions were considerably clarified by the discovery in about 1937 of Carl Drège's detailed diary.

On his return to Europe he settled near Hamburg from where he managed a successful nursery business. He married Johanna Alida Vlaar, also from his hometown of Altona, on 2 December 1837.

References

Further reading

• Gunn, Mary; Codd, L. E. W. (1981). "Drège, Johann Fran(t)z (Jean Francois)". Botanical exploration of Southern Africa. CRC Press. p. 136.
  ISBN 0-86961-129-1
  .
  • Google Books preview
• Zwei Pflanzengeographische Documente, Johann Franz Drège (Leipzig 1843)
• Catalogus plantarum exsiccatarum Africae Australioris quas emturis offert, Johann Franz Drège (1837–40)
• Standörterverzeichnis der von C. L. Zeyher in Südafrika gesammelten Pflanzen, Johann Franz Drège (1847–48)
• Commentariorum de plantis Africae Australioris, Ernst Meyer (1835–37) translated by Harry Bolus as On the geographical distribution of plants in South Africa (Cape Monthly Magazine July 1873-June 1874)

External links

• Registration at Kew Botanical Gardens