| Flora of Southern Africa | East Cape Photo Gallery |
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| Photo Identifications L-R: Aptosimum indivisum, Ornithogalum juncifolium, Relhania pungens, Aristea abyssinica, Helichrysum ecklonis, Leucospermum cuneiforme, Pelargonium pulverulentum. |
| Plant Names A-G |
| Note: The generic names in italics are outdated names, and where applicable their new names are given at the bottom of the entry. abbottii (Psoralea): after Tony Abbott, farmer and amateur botanist. (Elsa Pooley) Abildgaardia (Cyperaceae): honors the Danish zoologist and veterinarian Peder Christian Abildgaard (1740-1801), founder of the Royal Veterinary College at Christianshavn in 1770 and thus the father of Danish veterinary medicine. Achillea (Asteraceae): named for Achilles, who supposedly used plants of the genus to staunch the wounds of his soldiers at the siege of Troy. acockii (Chondropetalum et. al.): collected by and named after John Phillip Harrison Acocks (1911-1979), for over 50 years a botanist, author of Veld types of South Africa, pasture ecologist, did much work in the area of botanical surveys, and is especially known for his development of treating different areas as vegetation regions or veld types. He previously spelled his name Acock. (Hugh Clarke) acocksianum (Troglophyton): see acockii. acocksii (Agathosma, Asparagus, Cliffortia, Diospyros, Erica, Protoasparagus, Restio, Rhus, Searsia, Selago, Trachyandra): see acockii. Protoasparagus acocksii = Asparagus acocksii. Rhus acocksii = Searsia acocksii. adamsonii (Liriothamnus, Trachyandra): after Robert Stephen Adamson (1885-1965). "English botanist from Manchester who was a lecturer in botany at Manchester University (1912-1922) before sailing to Australia (1922), then moving to South Africa where he was appointed Professor of Botany at Cape Town University (1923-1950). Adamson published on the vegetation of South Africa and wrote a flora of the Cape area, eventually retiring to Scotland in 1955." (Aluka) Liriothamnus adamsonii = Trachyandra adamsonii. Adansonia (Bombaceae): named for French surgeon and naturalist of Scottish descent Michel Adanson (1727-1806). Adanson was born at Aix-en-Provence. His family moved to Paris on 1730. After leaving the College Sainte Barbe he was employed in the cabinets of R. A. F. Reaumur and Bernard de Jussieu, as well as in the Jardin des Plantes. At the end of 1748 he left France on an exploring expedition to Senegal. He remained there for five years, collecting and describing numerous animals and plants. He also collected specimens of every object of commerce, delineated maps of the country, made systematic meteorological and astronomical observations, and prepared grammars and dictionaries of the languages spoken on the banks of the Senegal. After his return to Paris in 1754 he made use of a small portion of the materials he had collected in his Histoire naturelle du Senegal (1757). This work has a special interest from the essay on shells, printed at the end of it, where Adanson proposed his universal method, a system of classification distinct from those of Buffon and Linnaeus. He founded his classification of all organized beings on the consideration of each individual organ. As each organ gave birth to new relations, so he established a corresponding number of arbitrary arrangements. Those beings possessing the greatest number of similar organs were referred to one great division, and the relationship was considered more remote in proportion to the dissimilarity of organs. In 1763 he published his Familles naturelles des plantes. In this work he developed the principle of arrangement above mentioned, which, in its adherence to natural botanical relations, was based on the system of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, and had been anticipated to some extent nearly a century before by John Ray. The success of this work was hindered by its innovations in the use of terms, which were ridiculed by the defenders of the popular sexual system of Linnaeus; but it did much to open the way for the establishment, by means principally of Antoine Laurent de Jussieu's Genera Plantarum (1789), of the natural method of the classification of plants. In 1774 Adanson submitted to the consideration of the French Academy of Sciences an immense work, extending to all known beings and substances. It consisted of 27 large volumes of manuscript, employed in displaying the general relations of all these matters, and their distribution; 150 volumes more, occupied with the alphabetical arrangement of 40,000 species; a vocabulary, containing 200,000 words, with their explanations; and a number of detached memoirs, 40,000 figures and 30,000 specimens of the three kingdoms of nature. The committee to which the inspection of this enormous mass was entrusted strongly recommended Adanson to separate and publish all that was peculiarly his own, leaving out what was merely compilation. He obstinately rejected this advice; and the huge work, at which he continued to labour, was never published. He had been elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1759, and he latterly subsisted on a small pension it had conferred on him. Of this he was deprived in the dissolution of the Academy by the Constituent Assembly, and was consequently reduced to such a depth of poverty as to be unable to appear before the French Institute when it invited him to take his place among its members. Afterwards he was granted a pension sufficient to relieve his simple wants. He died at Paris after months of severe suffering, requesting, as the only decoration of his grave, a garland of flowers gathered from the fifty-eight families he had differentiated - "a touching though transitory image," says Georges Cuvier, "of the more durable monument which he has erected to himself in his works." (Wikipedia) adlami (Berkeya): after Richard Wills Adlam (1853-1903), British horticulturist who emigrated to the Cape in 1874, worked at the Botanic Garden in Grahamstown, was appointed in 1891 to design what is now Joubert Park in Johannesburg, started his own nursery, collected and sent seeds to Kew. Berkheya adlami = Berkheya radula. Adonis (Ranunculaceae): named for Adonis, in Greek
mythology a beautiful young man who was beloved of Persephone and Aphrodite. Afzelia (Fabaceae): named in honor of the Swedish
botanist and pupil of Linnaeus Adam Afzelius of Uppsala (1750-1837),
who lived in Somalia. Afzelius was born at Larv in Westrogothia. He
was appointed teacher of oriental languages at Uppsala University in
1777, and in 1785 demonstrator of botany. From 1792 he spent some years
on the west coast of Africa, and in 1797-1798 acted as secretary of
the Swedish embassy in London. Returning to Sweden, he again took up
his position as botanical demonstrator at Uppsala, and was in 1802 elected
president of the "Zoophytolithic Society" (later called the
Linnaean Institute). In 1812, he became professor of materia medica
at the university. He died in Uppsala. In addition to various botanical writings, he published the autobiography of Carolus Linnaeus in
1823. His brother, Johan Afzelius (1753-1837) was professor of chemistry
at Uppsala; and another brother, Pehr von Afzelius (1760-1843; the "von"
was added when he was ennobled), who became professor of medicine at
Uppsala in 1801, was distinguished as a medical teacher and practitioner.
(Wikipedia) Alberta (Rubiaceae): Alberta magna was named by Ernst Heinrich Meyer, who was a lecturer in medicine at the University of Gottingen and an associate professor of botany in Koningsberg. He named the genus Alberta and one species, magna in honour of Albertus Magnus, whose real name was Graf von Bollstädt, a famous German philosopher or theologian who lived between the 12th and 13th century and wrote De vegetabilus, a botanical work in seven volumes. (PlantzAfrica) Albertisia (Menispermaceae): commemorates Count Luigi Maria d'Albertis (1841-1901), an Italian zoologist-ethnographer. Albizia (Fabaceae): honors an Italian nobleman named Filippo degli Albizzi who introduced Albizia julibrissin into Europe from Constaninople around 1749. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Alchornea (Euphorbiaceae): named for the English botanist Stanesby Alchorne (1727-1800), a plant collector and worker at the Chelsea Physic Garden. Alciope (Asteraceae): named for a nymph in Greek mythology. Aldrovanda (Droseraceae): after the Italian botanist
Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), pharmacologist, naturalist, plant collector,
doctor of medicine, and Director of the Botanical Garden of Bologna,
one of the first in Europe. He was considered by Linnaeus as the father
of natural history studies. He had vast collections of botanical and
zoological specimens. Allenia (Malvaceae): honors the South African botanist Robert Allen Dyer (1900-1987), Director of the Botanical Research Institute in Pretoria. [Now in genus Radyera] Alonsoa (Scrophulariaceae): named for Cenón
(or Zenón) Alonso Acosta Zorilla y Dávila (1756-?), a
Spanish government official. (Ruiz and Pavon, "Systema Vegtabilium
Florae Peruvianae et Chilensis," 1798) alstonii (Cephalophyllum, Hoodia, Trichocaulon): named for Capt. Edward Garwood Alston (1861-1934), farm manager and botanical collector in the Northern Cape. (Eggli & Newton) altensteinii (Encephalartos): named after Baron von Stein zum Altenstein, a statesman at the court of King Fredrick William 3 rd of Prussia, by Lehmann in 1834. (PlantzAfrica) Althenia (Zannichelliaceae): dedicated to Jean
Althen (1709-1774), author of Mémoire sur la culture de la
garance, Armenian/Persian agronomist, who developed in France the cultivation
of madder. Although the plant had been present in the region before
his arrival, it was Althen who developed its cultivation, turning it
into an industry. In 1754, he arrived in Avignon where he started experimenting
with the cultivation of madder. Associated with a local landlord, Clauseau
Aïné, he produced a crop of 2500 kg (5500 lbs) in 1769.
Poor business decisions led to financial problems, and he died in poverty
in 1774. A French commune, Althen-des-Paluds, is named after him, as
well as statues and streets in several cities of the south of France. (Western Australian plant names and their meanings: a glossary by F.A. Sharr, CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Ammannia (Lythraceae): honors the German physician
Paul Ammann (1634-1691), botanist and professor at the University of
Leipzig. Andreaea (Andreaeaceae): Named for an apothecary
and chemist of Hanover, Johann Gerhard Reinhard Andreä (1724-1793).
"He was born in Hannover, the son of a pharmacist. After training
in a Frankfurt pharmacy, he studied in Leiden and England. Returning
to Hannover, he took over his father's pharmacy. He did field work in
Switzerland and became interested in chemistry and mineralogy, describing
300 types of soils. Besides natural history, he read great literature
in various languages, especially loved the English poets, and was a
fine pianist. Friedrich Ehrhart, with whom he worked, named this genus
after him." (from the online Guide
to the Bryophytes of Colorado by William A. Weber) He was appointed
to the royal court of Hannover and his work on soils was performed with
an eye to determining which would be best for certain kinds of agriculture.
Apparently met and befriended Benjamin Franklin on his visit to Hannover. Ansellia (Orchidaceae): named after the British
plant collector John Ansell (?-1847), gardener and assistant botanist
on Capt. Allen's Niger expedition in 1841. Aongstroemia (Dicranaceae): possibly named after a J. Aongstroem about whom I have no information. Araujia (Apocynaceae): named for the Portuguese
Antonio de Araujo de Azevedo (1784-1817), patron of botany, count of
Barca. Portuguese statesman. After cooperating in the establishment
of the academy of sciences at Lisbon, he represented his government
in Holland, France, Prussia, and Russia. He was first minister of John
VI., whom he followed to Brazil in 1807. There he was minister of the
navy and of foreign affairs, and took great interest in promoting education
and industry. He taught the Brazilians how to manu- Arethusa (Orchidaceae): named for a mythological
wood nymph named Arethusa, who was changed into a stream by Artemis.
(CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Arrowsmithia (Asteraceae): ??? Artemisia (Asteraceae): referring to the Greek
goddess Artemis who so benefitted from a plant of this family that she
gave it her own name. This was also the old Latin name given to the
mugwort or wormwoods. An alternative possibility for the derivation
of this name is that it comes from Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus
in Asia Minor (Turkey), sister and wife of King Mausolus, who ruled
after his death from 352 to 350 B.C.E. and built during her short reign
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus,
which she unfortunately did not live to see the completion of. Asclepias (Apocynaceae): honors the Greek God of
medicine. Astridia (Mesembryanthemaceae): commemorates a
certain Mrs. Gustav Schwantes (née Astrid Elise Wilberg),
wife of the German botanist Gustav Schwantes (1891-1960), archeologist
and professor of pre-history. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Augea (Zygophyllaceae): honors the German gardener
and naturalist Johann Andreas Auge (1711-1805), botanical collector
who died in the Cape Provinc. He was a participant of a land expedition
from the Cape Colony to Namibia from July 1761 to April 1762. The expedition
consisted of its leader Hendrik Hop, Surveyor Carel Frederik Brink,
Johan Auge, Surgeon Carel Christoffel Rijkvoet, scout Jacobus Coetzee
and twelve other Cape burghers, as well as 68 Basters [descendants of
liaisons between the Cape Colony Dutch and indigenous African women.
They largely live in Namibia and are similar to oloured or Griqua people
in South Africa. The name Baster is derived from the Dutch word for
‘mixed race’ or ‘crossbreed'.] They crossed the Oranje
River on Sep. 29, 1761, visited Warmbad, travelled northwards up to
the Xamob (present-day Löwen) River, and turned back on Dec. 9,
1761. On Feb. 9, 1762, they crossed the Oranje River on their way back.
He died in 1805. (Biographies of Namibian Personalities) Bachmannia (Capparaceae): see bachmannii. bachmanniana (Bulbine, Hessea, Lotononis): see bachmannii. Bulbine bachmanniana = Bulbine nutans. Hessea bachmanniana = Hessea breviflora. bachmannii (Anthericum, Asterella, Bulbine, Felicia, Fimbriaria, Helichrysum, Isoglossa, Kniphofia, Tephrosia, Thamnochortus, Thunbergia): the species
name 'bachmannii' honors German
naturalist and physician Dr. Franz Ewald Bachmann (1856-c.1916) who collected several
new species on the Sandveld along the West Coast, while he practised
medicine in Darling and Hopefield from 1883–1887. (PlantzAfrica) Baikiaea (Fabaceae): honors the Scottish doctor and naturalist William Balfour Baikie (1825-1864), Royal Navy surgeon, plant collector, explorer and philologist, surgeon and naturalist (and then commander) on the Niger expedition of 1854. He also led a second expedition to the Niger in 1857 and established a settlement there. Baillonella (Sapotaceae): named after the French botanist Henri Ernest Baillon (1827-1895), a professor of natural history at the Faculté de Médecine, Paris, and author of numerous botanical works. bainesii (Aloe, Aristolochia, Leucosphaera, Lopholaena, Marcellia, Polydora, Sericocoma, Sericocomopsis,Vernonia): this plant was first
discovered by Mary Elizabeth Barber, who was a plant collector in the
former Transkei. She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to
the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where it was named by Dyer (1874)
in her honour. Subsequently it was also found in the Tugela River Valley
(KwaZulu-Natal) by the well known traveller, explorer and painter Mr.
Thomas Baines in 1873. He sent a specimen to Joseph Hooker at Kew, where
it was named in his honour. Although known for many years as Aloe bainesii,
Aloe barberae was the name first given to this plant, and takes precedence
according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. (PlantzAfrica).
There is today a Thomas Baines Nature Preserve in the Eastern Cape.
"Baines was an English artist and explorer of British colonial
southern Africa and Australia. Born in King's Lynn in Norfolk, United
Kingdom, Baines was apprenticed to a coach painter at an early age.
When he was 22 he left England for South Africa and worked for a while
in Cape Town as a scenic and portrait artist, and as a sniper[citation
needed] for the British Army. In 1855 Baines joined Augustus Gregory’s
1855–1857 Royal Geographical Society sponsored expedition across
northern Australia as official artist and storekeeper. The expedition’s
purpose was to explore the Victoria River district in the north-west
and to evaluate the entire northern area of Australia in terms of its
suitability for colonial settlement. His association with the North
Australian Expedition was the highpoint of his career, and he was warmly
commended for his contribution to it, to the extent that Mount Baines
and the Baines River were named in honour of him. In 1858 Baines accompanied
David Livingstone along the Zambezi, and was one of the first white
men to view Victoria Falls. In 1869 Baines led one of the first gold
prospecting expeditions to Mashonaland in what later became Rhodesia.
In 1870 Baines was granted a concession to explore for gold between
the Gweru and Hunyani rivers by Lobengula, leader of the Matabele nation.
Thomas Baines died in Durban in 1875. Baines is today best known for
his detailed paintings and sketches which give a unique insight into
colonial life in southern Africa and Australia. Many of his pictures
are held by the National Library of Australia, National Archives of
Zimbabwe, National Maritime Museum, Brenthurst Library and the Royal
Geographical Society." (Wikipedia) Baissea (Apocynaceae): honors an 18th century Jesuit
father named Sarrabat also known as de la Baisse who conducted experiments
on having living plants suck up colored fluids. Ballya (Commelinaceae): named after the Swiss botanist Peter René Oscar Bally (1895-1980), a taxonomist and plant collector in Kenya and Tanganyika (now Tanzania) who died in Nairobi. He was also head of the herbarium of Coryndon National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya, 1938–1958. banksii (Staberoha): after Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1829), English naturalist and explorer, and plant collector; a wealthy patron of the sciences. (Hugh Clarke) Barbarea (Brassicaceae): dedicated to Saint Barbara,
patron of artillerymen and miners, and an early Christian martyr. According
to legend, St. Barbara was beheaded by her own father, a wealthy heathen
named Dioscorus, for expressing a belief in Christ. barbeyi (Cotyledon): the species name 'barbeyi' was given after William Barbey (1842-1914), a Swiss philanthropist and botanist. barkerae (Drosanthemum, Gethyllis, Haemanthus, Leucadendron, Othonna): after Miss Winsome Fanny Barker (1907-1994), South African botanist at the National Botanic Gardens. (Eggli & Newton) Barnardiella (Iridaceae): honors the English anthropologist
Thomas Theodore Barnard (1898-1983), plant collector and Fellow of the
Linnaean Society. Barrowia (Apocynaceae): named for English statesman
Sir John Barrow (1764-1848) who was at the Cape from 1797 to 1804. He
also travelled extensively in China and was a major promoter of Arctic
voyages of exploration, including those of John Ross, William Edward
Parry, James Clark Ross, and John Franklin. Bartholina (Orchidaceae): commemorates the Danish anatomist Thomas Bartholin (1616-1680), physician, physiologist, mathematician, theologian and professor of anatomy at Copenhagen. He was one of the original discoverers of the lymphatic system in humans. Twelve members of his family became professors at the University of Copenhagen. He revised and illustrated a seminal work by his father Caspar Bartholin which became the standard reference on anatomy. He also became the physician to King Christian V of Denmark. Bartramia (Tiliaceae): named for John Bartram (1699-1777), the noted American botanist called by Linnaeus the greatest natural botanist in the world. He founded the 12 acre Bartram Botanical Gardens near Philadenphia, said to be the first in America, and he was one of the co-founders, along with Benjamin Franklin, of the American Philosophical Society in 1742. He was particularly noted for sending seeds of American trees and plants to Europe. He was made Royal Botanist by George III in 1765, a position which he held until his death. Bartsia (Scrophulariaceae): honors the Dutch botanist and physician Johann Bartsch (1709-1738), who died in Suriname, where he had been sent by fellow Dutchman Hermann Boerhaave at the recommendation of Carolus Linnaeus. He was the author of Thesis de Calore Corporis Humani hygraulico. Bassia (Chenopodiaceae): named for the Italian botanist and naturalist Ferdinando Bassi (1710-1774), Prefect of the Bologna Botanical Garden. batesiana (Gasteria, Haworthia): commemorates
a Mr. John Bates, a trolley bus conductor in London and a keen collector
of South African succulents, and was described by Mr. Gordon Rowley
in the National Cactus and Succulent Journal in 1960, a well known succulent
author living near Reading, England. (PlantzAfrica) baueri (Erica): Ericas also became favorite subjects for botanical artists resulting in several important works on the genus. In one of these, H.C. Andrews's "Heathery," published in 1805, Andrews depicted Erica baueri for the first time. He named it after his fellow artist at Kew, Francis Bauer (1758-1810), who was botanical artist to King George III. (PlantzAfrica) Bauhinia (Fabaceae): the genus Bauhinia was established by Linnaeus in 1753 and commemorates the brothers Gaspard
(or Caspar) (1560-1624) and Johann (or Jean) Bauhin (1541-1613) , both
botanists and herbalists, the characteristic paired leaves being a reflection
of their relationship. "Gaspard Bauhin introduced binomial nomenclature
into taxonomy, which was much later taken up by Linnaeus. Bauhin's work, Pinax theatri botanici (1596), was the first to use this convention
for naming of species. He also worked on human anatomical nomenclature.
His brother, Johann Bauhin, or Jean Bauhin, was also a physician and
botanist. Jean and Gaspard were the sons of Jean Bauhin (1511-1582),
a French physician who had to leave his native country on becoming a
convert to Protestantism. Gaspard was born at Basel and studied medicine
at Padua, Montpellier, and in Germany. Returning to Basel in 1580, he
was admitted to the degree of doctor, and gave private lectures in botany
and anatomy. In 1582 he was appointed to the Greek professorship in
that university, and in 1588 to the chair of anatomy and botany. He
was later made city physician, professor of the practice of medicine,
rector of the university, and dean of his faculty. In addition to Pinax
Theatri Botanici, Gaspard planned another work, a Theatrum Botanicum,
meant to be comprised in twelve parts folio, of which he finished three;
only one, however, was published (1658). He also gave a copious catalogue
of the plants growing in the environs of Basel, and edited the works
of Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577) with considerable additions. His
principal work on anatomy was Theatrum Anatomicum infinitis locis auctum (1592). (Wikipedia) "Johann studied
botany at Tübingen under Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566). He then travelled
with Conrad Gessner, after which he started a practise of medicine at
Basel, where he was elected Professor of Rhetoric in 1566. Four years
later he was invited to become physician to Duke Frederick I of Württemberg
at Montbéliard, where he remained until his death. He devoted
himself chiefly to botany. His great work, Historia plantarum universalis,
a compilation of all that was then known about botany, was incomplete
at his death, but was published at Yverdon in 1650-1651." (Answers.com) bayeriana (Quaqua): see bayeri. Beckeropsis (Poaceae): named for German botanist Johannes Becker (1769-1833). Begonia (Begoniaceae): named after the French patron of botany Michel Bégon de la Picardière (1638-1710), Governor of French Canada and Santo Domingo (Haiti). The name was given by Charles Plumier, a botanist from France who crossed the Atlantic Ocean to visit and study these flowers which grew abundantly in Haiti.(CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Behnia (Philesiaceae): possibly named after Wilhelm
Friedrich Georg Behn (1808-1878), director of the zoological museum
at Kiel, friend and companion of Danish botanist Didrik Ferdinand Didrichsen
(1814-1887). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Beilschmiedia (Lauraceae): honors German botanist
and apothecary Carl (Karl) Traugott Beilschmied (1793-1848). bellendenii (Moraea): after John Bellenden Ker (1764-1842), an English botanist, traveler, and expert on the iris family. (Hugh Clarke) Berardia (Bruniaceae): The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge says that this was named by botanist Dominique Villars after an apothecary who was a contemporary of the Bauhins named Berard, who lived at Strasburg and who left behind a manuscript work on plant, however the Aluka database which is probably more reliable has it that it honors M. Berard, Professor of Chemistry at Montpelier. As a further possibility, Paxton's Pocket Botanical Dictionary lists it as honoring Mr. Berard, a botanist of Grenoble. Bergeranthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): honors the
German botanist and horticulturist Alwin Berger (1871-1931), authority
on Cactaceae and Superintendent of the Hanbury Garden in La Mortola,
Italy. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Berkheya (Asteraceae): Berkheyas are often thistle-like. Of the 75 species in the genus, about 71 species are indigenous to South Africa. The German botanist Ehrhart founded the genus Berkheya in 1788, and named it in honor of the Dutch botanist (and physician?), Jan le Francq van Berkhey (1729-1812). (PlantzAfrica) Berrisfordia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for a
Mr. G. Berrisford. Bewsia (Poaceae): dedicated to the Scottish ecologist John William Bews (1884-1938), professor of botany at Natal University College in South Africa, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and author of The World's Grasses. Bignonia (Bignoniaceae): named after Abbé Jean Paul Bignon (1662-1743), librarian to King Louis XIV. "The Abbé Jean-Paul Bignon was Royal Librarian at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France from 1718 to 1741, and brought the institution to its glorious zenith. The Bibliotheque had been set up in 1368 by Charles V, 'the Wise', who had moved his personal library of some 917 manuscripts into the Louvre to be cared for by the then Guardian Gilles Malet. The Bibliotheque was moved several times around France, growing in size and diversity under the auspices of several key librarians including the statesman Colbert, who moved the collection to the Paris quarter where it still resides. By the time Bignon arrived in 1719 the library, now the Bibliotheque du Roi, had become the leading library in Europe. The number of volumes it carried had outgrown the most immediate database system of the time, in that the librarians could no longer rely on their memories to find titles. Bignon expanded on the classification system of his predecessor Nicolas Clement - who had divided printed material into 23 categories - by organising the library into five departments, covering Manuscripts, Printed Books, Titles and Genealogy, Engraved Plates and Prints, Medals and Stone Engravings. Bignon made great efforts to add to the library by attempting to procure the major works of European scholars. He also took the unprecedented step of opening the library to the public, but only for three hours one day of the week. Not least by imitating the opening times of some modern libraries, the Abbe established himself as truly being a man ahead of his time." (Digital Handbook of Library Science) Bijlia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for Paul Andries
van der Byl (Bijl) (1888-1939), a collector of succulents. He was on
the staff of the Division of Plant Pathology in Pretoria, then in 1918
he was transferred to Durban as officer in charge of the Botanic Station
and Natal Herbarium, to work on diseases of sugar-cane and other tropical
crops. In 1921 he was appointed Professor of Phytopathology in the newly
formed Agricultural Faculty of Stellenbosch University, the first professor
in this subject in South Africa, and built his department up from scratch
to a leading place for teaching and research in phytopathology and mycology.
He was the first professor of plant pathology in South Africa, and his
department was also the first department of plant pathology in the British
Commonwealth. In 1928 he became principal of the Stellenbosch Elsenburg
Agricultural College, a post he held until his death. During his career
he established one of the most extensive lichen collections ever obtained
in South Africa, and after his death, the P.A. Van Der Bijl Herbarium
was merged with the National Collection of Fungi (PREM). In 1928 he
also published the first South African book dealing with diseases of
plants. (South African Society of Plant Pathology and CRC World Dictionary
of Plant Names) Since I wrote this I have heard from Leonard Newton,
co-author of Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names who said that he was "under the impression that this genus was
named for Mrs. Deborah van der Bijl (1872-1942) [wife of Paul Andries?]
, founder and first president of the South African Succulent Society
in 1931. She collected plants and sent them to, among others, Dr. N.E.
Brown, author of the name Bijlia." So this remains uncertain
at the moment pending further confirmation one way or the other. Blackwellia (Samydaceae): honors the Scottish botanist
Elizabeth Blackwell (1707-1758), the first British female herbalist
and among the first women to achieve fame as a botanical illustrator.
She was artist and engraver for A Curious Herbal which contained
illustrations of many odd-looking unfamiliar plants froom the New World.
She undertook this job in order to raise funds to secure the release
of her husband Alexander Blackwell from debtor's prison. Unfortunately
her husband's story did not have a happy ending for after leaving his
family and relocating to Sweden, he became involved in a political conspiracy,
and was arrested and hanged. Blainvillea (Asteraceae): named after the French
biologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), zoologist,
physician, paleobiologist, and professor of zoology, comparative anatomy
and physiology. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Blighia (Sapindaceae): honors British mariner William Bligh (1754-1817), navigator, sailing master on Captain James Cook's 2nd voyage, captain of the Bounty and Governor of New South Wales. Blotiella (Dennstaedtiaceae): dedicated to the French botanist and physician Marie-Laure Tardieu-Blot (1902- ), pteridologist and plant collector. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Blumea (Asteraceae): named after the Dutch botanist
Karl Ludwig von Blume (1796-1862), physician, traveller, plant collector,
Director of the Botanic Gardens at Buitenzorg, Superintendent of the
Leyden Rijksherbarium. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Bobartia (Iridaceaea): honors the German botanist
Jacob Bobart (1599-1680), the first Horti Praefectus (Superintendent)
of the Oxford Physic Garden. His son, Jacob Bobart the Younger (1641-1719),
suceeded his father as Horti Praefectus and became acting Professor
of Botany at Oxford. Boeckeleria (Cyperaceae): commemorates Johann Otto Boeckeler (1803-1899). (David Hollombe) Boeckhia (Restionaceae): ??? Boehmeria (Urticaceae): named for the German botanist
and physician Georg(e) Rudolf Boehmer (1723- Boerhavia (Nyctaginaceae): honors Dutch physician and botanist Herman Boerhaave (1668-1739), professor of botany and medicine, and one of the most influential clinicians and scientific educators of the 18th century. He published numerous works describing new species of plants. He was also skilled in chemistry. His work greatly increased the fame of the University of Leiden, where the operating theatre in which he once worked as an anatomist is now at the center of a museum named after him; the Boerhaave Museum. Boivinella (Sapotaceae): for the French botanist
Louis Hyacinthe Boivin (1808-1852), plant collector on the islands of
the Indian Ocean and the coasts of Africa, the Canary Islands and Madagascar. boltonii (Asplenium, Bonatea): after Maj.Gen Daniel Bolton (? – 1860), a soldier and naturalist in Grahamstown who collected flora specimens for Hooker at Kew (Gardens). (Hugh Clarke) Bolusafra (Fabaceae): see Bolusanthus. Bolusia (Fabaceae): see Bolusanthus. Bolusiella (Orchidaceae): see Bolusanthus. Bonamia (Convolvulaceae): honors the French physician and botanist François Bonamy (1710-1786). Bonatea (Orchidaceae): described by the German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1805, and named after Guiseppe Antonio Bonato (1753-1836), who was professor of botany at Padua in Italy. (PlantzAfrica) Borbonia (Lauraceae): genus named by French botanist Charles Plumier for Gaston, Duke of Orleans (1608-1660), third son of Henri IV (Henri de Bourbon). David Hollombe provided the following: "At this period, Gaston of Orleans, brother of Louis XIII., had established a botanical garden at his palace of Blois, which had acquired much celebrity from the works of Morison, and by drawings of the most remarkable plants. Gaston of Orleans, not satisfied with the mere collection of plants of every country in his garden at Blois, had them described by learned botanists, and the most remarkable species drawn on vellum, by the painter Robert, eminent for his skill in that branch of the art." Borreria (Rubiaceae): named for the British botanist
William J. Borrer, the Elder (1781-1862), horticulturist, plant collector,
Fellow of the Royal Society and the Linnaean Society, and author of English Botany. He was a friend of Sir Joseph Banks and Sir William
Hooker, and was widely considered as the father of British lichenology.
Boscia (Capparaceae): for the French botanist, invertebrate zoologist, entomologist and
horticulturist Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc (1759-1828). Bouchea (Verbenaceae): honors German gardener Carl
David Bouché (1809-1881), botanist at the boylei (Aloe): named for botanist F. Boyle. (Elsa Pooley) Brackenridgea (Ochnaceae): named for the Scottish
born American nurseryman and horticulturist William Dunlop Brackenridge
(1810-1893). He was the naturalist and botanist on the U.S. Exploring
Expedition of 1838-1842 led by Commodore Charles Wilkes. Brasenia (Cabombaceae): "Derivation obscure, apparently from the plant's name in Guiana." Most references indicate derivation obscure. Rafinesque in 1828 said, "from a German botanist, Brasen," with no further details. However, James S. Pringle in a 1995 article in Sida, Contributions to Botany ("Possible Eponomy of the Generic Name Brasenia") suggests that there is good circumstantial evidence that the name does honor Christoph Brasen (1738-1774), a Danish surgeon and leader of the 1771 missionary expedition that established the Moravian mission of Nain on the coast of Labrador the purpose of which was to convert the Inuit residents there to Christianity, and served as its first superintendent. He died in 1774 when on the return trip a storm struck the exploratory voyage he was undertaking to explore the northern Labrador coast and establish a second mission post. The genus was named by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber who was a professor of natural history and director of the botanical garden at Erlangen, Bavaria. He was familiar with the Moravians and frequently received collected plant specimens from them. Brasen is known to have collected botanical specimens in Labrador and had developed a reputation for being "knowledgeable in botany." Although no direct provable link has been uncovered between Brasen and von Schreber, it is highly likely that upon hearing of the former's death, the suggestion was made that an honorific name be granted to some taxon on his behalf. Braunia (Hedwigiaceae): named by Wilhelm Philipp Schimper after Professor Alexander Braun (1805-1877), German botanist from Bavaria, Director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, largely known for his research involving plant morphology, and made important contributions in the field of cell theory. (Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, Vol. 15, edited by Berthold Seeman, also Wikipedia) Braunsia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for German
entomologist and physician Dr. Hans H.J.C. Brauns (1857-1929). Brayulinia (Amaranthaceae): named for the American
botanists Edwin Burton Uline (1867-1933) and William L. Bray (1865-1953),
students of the Amaranthaceae. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Breonadia (Rubiaceae): possibly named for Jean
Nicholas Bréon (1785-1864), a palnt collector in Mauritius. (CRC
World Dictionary of Plant Names) Breweria (Convolvulaceae): after the British botanist
William Brewer (1670-1743). Brianhuntleya (Mesembryanthemaceae): named after Professor Brian Huntley (1944- ), head of South Africa's Botanical Research Institute. Bridelia (Phyllanthaceae): named for the Swiss botanist Samuel Elisée von Bridel (1761-1828), bryologist, poet and librarian, author of Bryologia universa. He studied at the University of Lausanne and later went to Gotha (Thuringia, Germany), where he taught the sovereign’s children, princes August and Friedrich von Sachsen-Gotha. He was one of the foremost bryological leaders of his time, and also published the to-volume work entitled Muscologia recentiorum. Most of his moss herbarium was acquired by the Botanical Museum of Berlin and fortunately escaped destruction during an air raid in World War II. britteniae (Cineraria, Delosperma, Faucaria, Haworthia): named for Lilian Louisa Britten (1886-1952), South African botanist at Rhodes University, cousin of Grace Violet Britten, widely regarded in her time as South Africa's top authority on the Eastern Cape flora. She worked as schoolteacher before continuing her botanical studies at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London, returning to Rhodes University in 1918. She concentrated her research on the genus Streptocarpus, and retired in 1941. She was a co-founder of the Nature Reserve Society, formed in 1932 to preserve the flora of Mountain Drive in Grahamstown. (Per. comm. from Alice Notten at Kirstenbosch) britteniae (Haworthia, Leipoldtia): named for Grace Violet Britten (1904-1987), a South African botanist and plant collector with an interest in indigenous flora, especially succulents. She worked as a botanical assistant at the Albany Museum Herbarium (1921-1984), was highly regarded for her knowledge of Eastern Cape flora, was an expert on the Genus Haworthia. (Per. comm. from Alice Notten at Kirstenbosch) She was a cousin of Lilian Louisa Britten. Brothera (Dicranaceae): ??? Brownanthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): honors the British
botanist at Kew Herbarium Nicholas Edward Brown (1849-1934), an expert on African plants
with an honorary doctorate from Witwatersrand University who never visited
Africa. Brownleea (Orchidaceae): named for the English
botanist Rev. John Brownlee (1791-1871), who was a gardener, theologian
and missionary in South Africa. Bruguiera (Rhizophoraceae): the genus name commemorates Jean Guillaume Bruguiere(s) (1750–1798), botanical artist and plant collector, who was sent by the French government to Madagascar, Mauritius, Rodrigues and Kerguelen Islands, and collected at the Cape in 1792. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names). Brunia (Bruniaceae): the genus Brunia is
most likely named after a contemporary of Linnaeus, the apothecary,
Dr. Cornelius Brun, who travelled in Russia and the Levant, although
it could also be in commemoration of Dr. Alexander Brown, a ship's surgeon
and plant collector who worked in the East Indies around 1690. (PlantzAfrica,
CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Gunn & Codd have Dr. Alexander Brown (fl. 1692-1698) as the honoree. Brunsvigia (Amaryllidaceae): the name Brunsvigia was first published in 1755 by Lorenz Heisters, a botanist and professor
of medicine at the University of Helmstädt. It honors Karl [Carl]
Wilhelm Ferdinand (1713-1780), Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg, patron of
the arts and sciences], the Sovereign of Braunschweig, who promoted
the study of plants, including the beautiful Cape species B. orientalis.
(PlantzAfrica) Buchnera (Scrophulariaceae): the CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names says, "presumably named in honor of the German naturalist Johann Gottfried Buchner (1695-1749), or after the physician Andreas Elias Buchner (1701-1769), a German naturalist." The former is I think correct. Buddleja (Buddlejaceae): the genus is named after
the Rev. Adam Buddle (1660-1715), an English rector and botanist. (PlantzAfrica) Bulliarda (Crassulaceae): commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste François Bulliard (1752-1793), naturalist and author of Flora parisiensis. Bunburia (Apocynaceae): possibly named after Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809-1886), traveller, plant collector in South Africa, author of A Journal of a Residence at the Cape of Good Hope. (There is also a genus Bunburya in the Rubiaceae likely named for the same person) (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Bunburya (Rubiaceae): see Bunburia. Burchellia (Rubiaceae): this tree was named after
William John Burchell (1781-1863), botanical collector, painter, writer,
gardener, entomologist, early explorer and naturalist in South Africa
who was the author of Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa , a book that was published in 1822. (CRC World Dictionary of Pplant
Names). "[He is] regarded as one of the greatest of the early African
explorers. He was an accomplished naturalist, who ammassed vast natural
history collections and described many new species. His achievements
were not fully recognized by his contemporaries and he became a solitary
and unhappy figure in later life. He developed an interest in natural
history early on in life and was particularly taken with botany, which
he studied at Kew Gardens. In his mid twenties Burchell took up the
position of schoolmaster and acting botanist on the island of St. Helena.
His fiancee set out to join him in 1807, however, upon arrival, she
announced a change of heart; she was to marry the captain of the ship
that had carried her to the island, and Burchell was to remain a bachelor
until his death in 1863." (website of Oxford University Museum
of Natural History) His name is also on the Burchell's zebra. Burkea (Fabaceae): named for British botanist and
collector Joseph Burke (1812-1873). He participated in several collecting
expeditions with the noted South African botanist Carl L.P. Zeyher,
and later emigrated to the U.S. Burmannia (Burmanniaceae): honors the Dutch botanist
and physician Johannes Burman (1706/7-1779/80), a professor of botany at
Amsterdam University who studied under Herman Boerhaave and who was a close friend
of Carolus Linnaeus. He was the author of Thesaurus zeylanicus, and specialized in plants of Ceylon, Indonesia and the Cape Colony Burnatia (Alismataceae): dedicated to Emile Burnat
(1828-1920), Swiss engineer, industrialist, magistrate and amateur botanist. Buttonia (Scrophulariaceae): named for the English
botanist Edward Button (1836-1900), plant collector who died in South
Africa. Caesalpinia (Fabaceae): named for the noted Italian botanist and plant collector Andrea Cesalpino (1519-1603), naturalist, philospher and physician to Pope Clement VIII, professor of medicine and botany at Oisa and Rome, Praefectus of the first Botanical Garden of Pisa and founder of the second. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Caesia (Antheriaceae): named after the Italian botanist Federico Cesi (Fridericus Caesius) (1585-1630), microscopist and supporter of Galileo. Calandrinia (Portulacaceae): named for the Swiss botanist Jean Louis Calandrini (1703-1758), traveller and professor of mathematics and philosophy at Geneva. Caldesia (Alismataceae): named for the Italian botanist Ludovico Caldesi (1822-1884), politician, mycologist, naturalist, and member of Parliament. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Calpurnia (Fabaceae): the genus Calpurnia is named after the Roman poet Calpurnius. Calvaria (Sapotaceae): ??? Caperonia (Euphorbiaceae): named for Noël
Caperon or Capperon of Orleans, an apothecary who was the first to call
Fritillaria by that name. He was a Protestant and was murdered by a
Catholic mob in 1572. carterae (Delosperma): for Beatrice Orchard Carter (1889-1939), South African botanical artist at the Bolus Herbarium. (Eggli & Newton) Casearia (Flacourtiaceae): named after the Dutch clergyman Johannes Casearius (1642-1678), a missionary, minister of the Dutch East India Company, and co-author of the first two volumes of Hendrik A. Van Rheede's Hortus Indicus Malabaricus. Cassinia (Asteraceae): named for the French botanist and naturalist Alexandre Henri Gabriel Comte de Cassini (1781-1832). "He was the youngest of five children of Jacques Dominique, Comte de Cassini, who had succeeded his father as the director of the Paris Observatory, famous for completing the map of France. He was also the great-great-grandson of famous Italian-French astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, discoverer of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. The genus Cassinia was named in his honour by the botanist Robert Brown. He named many flowering plants and new genera in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), many of them from North America. He published 65 papers and 11 reviews in the [Nouveau] Bulletin des Sciences par la Société Philomatique de Paris between 1812 and 1821. In 1825, A. Cassini placed the North American taxa of Prenanthes in the new genus Nabalus, now considered a subgenus of Prenanthes (family Asteraceae, tribe Lactuceae). In 1828 he named Dugaldia hoopesii for the Scottish naturalist Dugald Stewart (1753-1828)." (Wikipedia) Cavacoa (Euphorbiaceae): genus named for the Portuguese botanist Alberto Judice Leote Cavaco (1916- ?), plant collector in Mozambique. Celmisia (Asteraceae): named for Celmision, son of the Greek nymph Alciope. Celsia (Scrophulariaceae): named after the Swedish
theologist, botanist, plant collector, teacher and patron of Linnaeus
Olof Celsius, the Elder (1670-1756). chamissonis (Juncus): after Adelbert von Chamisso, (1781-1838), a French-born German poet, gifted scientist, botanist, philologist and explorer. He was born French with the name Vicomte de Chamisso and baptized Louis Charles Adélaïde and later in Prussia took the name Adelbert. He spent several years in the Prussian army. In 1818 after returning he was made custodian of the botanical gardens in Berlin, and was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. He botanized with J.F. Eschscholtz in the San Francisco Bay region in 1816 and accompanied him on a Russian expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. chapmannii (Pancratium): ??? Pancratium chapmannii = Pancratium tenuifolium. chiarugii (Vernonia): the Harvard University Herbarium list of botanists does have an Alberto Chiarugi (1901-1960) but I don't know that this is the derivation here. Chironia (Gentianaceae): the name Chironia refers to this plant's medicinal attributes. It is named after Chiron, the good Centaur of Greek mythology who studied medicine, astronomy, music, and other arts, and was a skilled herbalist. Legend has it that he was accidentally shot and killed by Zeus who then put him in the sky as Alpha and Beta Centauri, the pointer stars for the Southern Cross. (PlantzAfrica) Chloris (Poaceae): dedicated to Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers and the personification of spring/. Chomelia (Rubiaceae): honors the French physician Pierre Jean Baptiste Chomel (1674-1740). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Christella (Thelypteridaceae): named for the Swiss
botanist and plant geographer Konrad Hermann Heinrich Christ (1833-1933),
pteridologist and professor of botany at Basel. Cienfuegosia (Malvaceae): commemorates the 16th
century Spanish physician and botanist Bernardo de Cienfuegos (c. 1580-1640). Clausena (Rutaceae): named after Danish priest
and naturalist Peder Claussen (1545-1614). Cliffortia (Rosaceae): the genus name honors George Clifford (1685-1760), a rich Anglo-Dutch financier and a Director of the Dutch East India Company who was also a keen horticulturist. In Amsterdam , Linnaeus stayed with Clifford, who owned a large, famous garden and the Zoo; around 1735, Linnaeus named the genus after his patron. (PlantzAfrica) Clivia (Amaryllidaceae): the plant is named after Lady Florentina Clive, the granddaughter of Baron Robert Clive who founded the British Empire in India. Clutia (Euphorbiaceae): named for the Dutch botanist, apothecary and curator of the Leiden Botanical Garden Outgers Cluyt (Theodorus Angerius Clutius) (1590-1650). Cluytia (Euphorbiaceae): I believe this is just a spelling variant of Clutia. Coddia (Rubiaceae): see coddii. Coldenia (Boraginaceae): named after the Irish-born
Scottish scientist and physician Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776). He
studied medicine in London, was a historian and botanist, emigrated
to America and was the father of the American botanist Jane Colden.
(CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Commelina (Commelinaceae): honors the Dutch botanists
Jan or Johan Commelin (1629-1692), his nephew Caspar Commelin (1667/1668-1731), and possibly his son Caspar as well. The flowers of Commelina have two large showy petals and a single small petal, and according to Stearn supposedly the two large petals represented (at least for Linnaeus who adopted the name given by Plumier) Commelin senior and the nephew, while the small one represented the son who never achieved anything in the field of botany. Cordia (Boraginaceae): the genus Cordia is so called for the German botanist and pharmacist Valerius Cordus (1514/1515-1544), traveller and botanical collector who received a degree of bachelor of medicine at the University of Marburg. He was one of the fathers of pharmacognostics (a subfield of pharmacology which studies natural drugs, including the study of their biological and chemical components, botanical sources, and other characteristics) and died in Rome. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Coulteria (Fabaceae): after Thomas Coulter (1793-1843), Irish physician, botanist and explorer, served as a physician in Mexico where he collected plants, best known for his exploration and botanical research in Mexico, Arizona and California in the early 1800s. In 1834 became curator of the herbarium at Trinity College, Dublin. (Nature in Ireland: A Scientific and Cultural History by John Wilson Foster and Helena C.G. Chesney, Wikipedia) Courtoisia/Courtoisina (Cyperaceae): honors the Belgian botanist Richard Joseph Courtois (1806-1835). Crabbea (Acanthaceae): named for the British amateur botanist and poet Rev. George Crabbe (1754-1832), a prolific writer. Craibia (Fabaceae): the genus name honors William
Grant Craib (1882–1933), a British botanist whose career included
a spell as Assistant for India at Kew and a professorship at Aberdeen
University. (PlantzAfrica). croucheri (Aloe, Gasteria): first collected
and introduced into cultivation by Thomas Cooper in 1860. It was named
by Hooker in 1880. In 1869 he had described it as Aloe croucheri in Curtis's Botanical Journal stating, "This, the handsomest
Gasteria of the kind that has hitherto flowered at Kew, is named after
the intelligent foreman of the propagating department, Mr. Croucher,
under whose care the succulent plants of the Royal Garden are placed,
and to whose zeal and special love for this class of plant the collection
owes much of its value and interest." The Mr. Croucher is Joseph Croucher (1838-1917) and he was for a time Superintendent at Kew Gardens (PlantzAfrica) Cullen (Fabaceae): at least two possibilities exist here: (1) William (1785-1862), Army officer and meteorologist, lieutenant-general, Royal Artillery, entered the East India Company, 1804, resident at Travancore, India, studied economic botany; or (2) William Cullen (1710-1790), Scottish physician and chemist who lectured at the University of Glasgow on among other things botany. There is also a plant name author named James Cullen (1936- ) but I think this is too recent. A communication from the Botanical Information Service of the National Herbarium of New South Wales states: "The genus Cullen is possibly named after William Cullen (1710-1790), Professor of Botany, Glasgow.. This information comes from Legumes Of The World edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. Mackinder & M. Lock, published by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2005." My thanks to Seanna McCune for her reply. Cunonia (Cunoniaceae): the genus Cunonia is named after the Dutch naturalist Johann Christian Cuno (1708-1780),
who published a book of verse about his garden in which many exotic
plants were growing. Curroria (Apocynaceae): named for a Mr. Andrew
B. Curror (c1812-?) of HMS Water-Witch, a Scottish surgeon and
plant collector in Angola in the 1840's. Curtisia (Cornaceae): Curtisia is named
in honor of William Curtis (1746-1799), nurseryman, entomol- Cussonia (Araliaceae): the name Cussonia was given by Carl Peter Thunberg to commemorate the French botanist Pierre Cusson (1727-1783). Cuviera (Rubiaceae): named for the French naturalist Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832). He succeeded Lamarck in the Chair of Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes. He founded vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline. yet he was not a believer in evolution, being of the opinion that all species were created at once. Cyclopia (Fabaceae): presumably named after the mythological Cyclops. Cymodocea (Cymodoceaceae): named after the sea-nymph Cymodoce, in mythology one of the Nereids and a companion of Venus. Dahlgrenodendron (Lauraceae): named for the Danish botanist Rolf T. M. Dahlgren (1932-1987) from the University of Lund. Before his untimely death in a traffic accident he wrote extensively on plant systematics. Dahlia (Hamamelidaceae): named after the Swedish botanist and physician Andreas (Anders) Dahl (1751-1789), a student of Linnaeus at Uppsala University. "Thanks to recommendations from Linnaeus, Dahl was employeed as a curator at Claes Alströmer's natural cabinett and botanical garden at Kristinedal in Gamlestaden outside Gothenburg. Andreas Dahl followed Claes Alströmer when he in 1785 moved to his estate Gåsevadsholm outside Kungsbacka, after that he had fallen into a bad economical predicament. In 1786 Dahl was conferred an honorary doctor's degree of medicine in Kiel and in 1787 he became associate professor and botanical demonstrator at the university of Turku (Åbo). To Turku he brought his herbarium which later was destroyed in the big fire in Turku in 1827. Parts of Dahl's collections are preserved and kept in Sahlberg's herbarium in the Botanical Museum at the University of Helsinki and in Giseke's herbarium in the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh." (website of the Swedish Museum of Natural History) There is another genus Dahlia in the Asteraceae family which is also named for him, but it is not represented in South Africa. Dalbergia (Fabaceae): named for the 18th century
Swedish planter Carl Gustav Dahlberg, a mercenary soldier in Suriname
and botanical collector for Linnaeus. dalenii (Gladiolus): named for Cornelius Dalen, Director of the Rotterdam Botanic Gardens. (Elsa Pooley) daltonii (Sarcostemma): possibly for plant collector John T. Dalton (fl. 1859-1861). Daubenya (Hyacinthaceae): honors the English botanist and physician Charles Giles Bridle Daubeny (1795-1867), professor of chemistry and botany at Oxford, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and plant collector in the U.S., West Indies and Europe. Davallia (Davalliaceae): named after the English-born
Swiss botanist Edmund Davall (1763-1798), plant collector and Fellow
of the Linnaean Society. Decorsea (Fabaceae): honors the French military physician Gaston Jules Decorse (1873-1907). Deinbollia (Sapindaceae): honors the Danish botanist
Peter Vogelius Deinboll (1784-1874), plant collector and clergyman. Delairia (Asteraceae): named after Eugene Delaire
(1810-1856), head gardener at the botanical gardens in Orleans from
1837 to 1856. (Calflora.net) Derenbergia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for German physician and succulent plant collector Dr. Julius Derenberg (1873-1928) who had a particular interest in the Mesembs. Deroemeria (Orchidaceae): possibly named for the same Mr. de Roemer (fl. 1852) for whom the orchid genus Deroemera is named? Deschampsia (Poaceae): honors the French botanist, naturalist and surgeon Louis Auguste Deschamps (1765-1842). A website of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands offers this information: "Surgeon-Naturalist of the expedition of the ‘Recherche’ in search of [the explorer Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse] 1791-1793. When the expedition stranded in Java he was interned for a short interval, but Governor van Overstraten offered him to stay in Java to make natural history investigations for which he would get facilities to extend his research into the interior of the island. Deschamps accepted, as he says, in the interest of science, and took leave of his travel companions. In the subsequent years this Frenchman made numerous trips, and he certainly has been the first to make botanical collections on several of the mountains and in many remote localities of Java. It is a pity that evidently none of his botanical specimens are preserved, as his diary, drawings and MS. papers are such that we might have expected extremely valuable material. During his travels he was partly accompanied by some young assistants who were to help him with the description and drawing of plants and animals (he collected fishes too!). Afterwards he settled at Batavia as a physician until 1802, in which year he sailed for Mauritius. Later he settled at St. Omer in France" Descurainia (Brassicaceae): named for French pharmacist and botanist François Déscourain (1658-1740), friend of Bernard de Jussieu. Desmazeria (Poaceae): honors the French botanist
Jean Baptiste Henri Joseph Desmazieres (1786-1862), horticulturist and
author of Plantes cryptogrames de Nord de la France. Deverra (Apiaceae): named for the Roman goddess
who protects women in labor, and patroness of midwives. Dewinterella (Amaryllidaceae): possibly after Bernard
De Winter (1924- ), South African botanist and author of Sixty-six
Transvaal trees. There is also a Rust De Winter Nature Reserve in
South Africa. Dietrichia (Crassulaceae): ??? Dintera (Scrophulariaceae): honors the German botanist
and explorer Moritz Kurt Dinter (1868-1945), plant collector in SW Africa. Wikipedia says "Dinter covered an estimated 40,000 km on foot, by wagon and motor vehicle during the course of his collecting trips, which spanned 38 years, in South West Africa. His collection of pressed specimens numbered in excess of 8400. Large quantities of living plants and seeds, and his wife's collections, were never numbered. Dinteranthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): see Dintera. Dittrichia (Asteraceae): named for the German botanist Manfred Dittrich (1934- ), a specialist in the Asteraceae. Dobrowskya (Campanulaceae): named for philologist
Joseph Dobrowsky (1753-1829). Dodonaea (Sapindaceae): honors one of the foremost
botanists of his day, the Flemish physician and herbalist Rembert Dodoens
(1517/1518-1585), on the faculty of medicine at Leyden University. Dombeya (Sterculiaceae): named for French botanist
Joseph Dombey (1742-1796?), physician, naturalist, explorer and traveller
in Chile and Peru, died in prison in the West Indies. Dorotheanthus (Aizoaceae): the name Dorotheanthus was given by Dr. Martin Heinrich Schwantes in honor of his mother Dorothea Schwantes. (PlantzAfrica) Dortmannia (Lobeliaceae): probably honors a Dutch
apothecary named Dortmann. Dregea (Apocynaceae): named after the German plant
collector Jean François (Johann Franz) Drège (1794-1881), a botanical
explorer and traveller who arrived in the Cape 1826 with brother Carl. (CRC World Dictionary
of Plant Names) There is another genus Dregea in the Apiaceae
which may be named for someone else. dreageanus (Chaetobromus, Eyryops, Melianthus, Microrhynchus, Senecio, Sonchus): see Dregea. dregei (Adenostemma, Anthospermum, Arctopus, Arctotis, Aster, Begonia, Berkheya, Crocodilodes, Dimorphotheca, Drimia, Erianthemum, Eriocaulon, Felicia, Hoodia, Lobostemon, Microloma, Osteospermum, Psathurochaeta, Schizoglossum, Sida, Voacanga): see Dregea. Dregeochloa (Poaceae): see Dregea. Duchesnea (Rosaceae): honors the French horticulturist
and botanist Antoine Nicholas Duchesne (1747-1827). Dufourea (Podostemaceae): named for the French botanist, mycologist and naturalist Jean-Marie Léon Marie Dufour (1780-1865). Dumasia (Fabaceae): named for the French scientist
Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas (1800-1884), son-in-law of Alexandre
Brongniart. Dumortia (Marchantiaceae): ??? Duranta (Verbenaceae): honors the Italian botanist
Castore Durante (1529-1590), physician to Pope Sixtus V. Duthiastrum (Iridaceae): after botanist Dr. Augusta
Vera Duthie (1881-1963), born in Knysna, lecturer in botany at Victoria
College which later became Stellenbosch University. Duvernoia (Acanthaceae): named after the German
botanist Johann Georg Duvernoy (1692-1759), studied under Joseph Pitton
de Tournefort. dyeri (Agapanthus, Aloe, Brachystelma, Euryops, Raphionacme, Rhus, Searsia): after Dr. Robert Allen Dyer (1900-1987), Director of the Botanical
Research Institute in Praetoria, South Africa. (PlantzAfrica) Dyerophytum (Plumbaginaceae): after the British
botanist Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928). Eberlanzia (Mesembryanthemaceae): honors the German botanist Friedrich Gustav Eberlanz (1879-1966). Ecklonea (Cyperaceae): named for Christian Friedrich
Ecklon (1795-1868), a Danish pharmacist, botanist and plant collector,
and one of the early botanical explorers of the Cape. He moved to South
Africa in 1823 as first an apothecary's apprentice and then pharmacist
and collected plants from 1823 to 1833, returning to Europe in 1828
with vast amounts of collected material which were distributed to German
and Danish botanists. During part of this time he worked with Karl Ludwig
Philipp Zeyher with whom he published a catalogue of South African plants
(1835-7). From 1833 to 1838 he was in Hamburg working on revising his
collection, later returning to South Africa where he eventually died. ecklonii (Anthoceras, Archidium, Aristea, Asparagus, Berzelia, Blepharis, Ceratiosicyos, Gladiolus, Lepidium, Pentaschistis, Plectranthus): see Ecklonea. Edmondia (Asteraceae): possibly named for Pierre
Edmond Boissier (1810-1885), Swiss botanist, or possibly for James W. Edmond (d. 1815), a Scottish botanist. Ehretia (Boraginaceae): named after an 18th century German botanical artist, George Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770), gardener and friend and correspondent of Linnaeus. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Ehrharta (Poaceae): honors the Swiss-born German botanist Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart (1742-1795), naturalist and pupil of Linnaeus at Uppsala University and friend of his son, also Director of the Botanical Garden of Hannover. Important collections of this outstanding German botanist are kept at the Herbarium of Moscow University. Eichhornia (Pontederiaceae): commemorates the Prussian
minister of education and public welfare, court advisor and politician
Johann Albrecht Friedrich Eichhorn (1779-1856). Ekebergia (Meliaceae): named by the Swedish botanist
Anders Sparrman after Captain Carl Gustav Ekeberg (1716-1784), whose
sponsorship made it possible for him to visit Africa. Elsiea (Hyacinthaceae): see elsiae. emelyae (Haworthia): honors Mrs. Emily Pauline Reitz Ferguson (1872-?), plant collector in South Africa. Englerastrum (Lamiaceae): honors the German botanist
Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (1844-1930), professor at the University of Berlin and director of the Berlin Botanical Gardens, also founder and editor of the periodical Botanische Jahrbücher. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant
Names in part) Engleria (Asteraceae): see Englerastrum. Englerodaphne (Thymelaeaceae): see Englerastrum. Englerophytum (Sapotaceae): see Englerastrum. Eschscholzia (Papaveraceae): named after Dr. Johann
Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz (1793-1831), an Estonian surgeon and
botanist who came with the Russian expeditions to the Pacific coast
in 1816 and 1824. On their first visit to the San Francisco region,
his name was put on the previously undescribed California poppy by his
friend and companion Adelbert von Chamisso (see chamissonis), and subsequently
on dozens of other newly discovered flowers. Later he returned the favor
by naming a lupine after his friend, Lupinus chamissonis. Esterhuysenia (Mesembryanthemaceae): see Elsiea. Eugenia (Myrtaceae): dedicated to the French-born Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), book collector and patron of botany, one of the greatest of the Austrian Hapsburg generals. He distinguished himself in many campaigns, most notably against the Turks who were besieging Vienna, again against the Turks after they recaptured Belgrade, and against the French in Italy and Provence during the War of Spanish Succession. He was the only person whose name has been given to warships of four different navies, British, Austro-Hungarian, German and Italian. The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen operated alongside the battleship Bismarck when the latter sank HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Eulalia (Poaceae): honors the painter Eulalie Delile who illustrated the work of the French naturalist Victor Jacquemont (see Jacquemontia). Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae): named for Euphorbus, Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania. Juba was educated in Rome and married the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. He was apparently interested in botany and had written about an African cactus-like plant he had found or which he knew about from the slopes of Mt. Atlas which was used as a powerful laxative. That plant may have been Euphorbia resinifera, and like all Euphorbias had a latexy exudate. Euphorbus had a brother named Antonius Musa who was the physician to Augustus Caesar in Rome. When Juba heard that Caesar had honored his physician with a statue, he decided to honor his own physician by naming the plant he had written about after him. The word Euphorbus derives from eu, "good," and phorbe, "pasture or fodder," thus giving euphorbos the meaning "well fed." Some sources suggest that Juba was amused by the play upon words and chose his physician's name for the plant because of its succulent nature and because of Euphorbus' corpulent physique. evansii (Berkheya, Euryops, Helichrysum, Kniphofia, Senecio): named in honor of Maurice Smethurst Evans (1854-1920), businessman, politician and plant collector in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. (Elsa Pooley, Aluka) fabricii (Lapeirousia): ??? Fagelia (Fabaceae): named for horticulturist Caspar Fagelius. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Fagonia (Zygophyllaceae): named for the French
botanist Guy-Crescent Fagon (1638-1718), chemist, patron of botany,
chief physician to Louis XIV, professor of botany at the Paris Jardin
du Roi, 1671-1708, and from 1699 to 1718 its director.(CRC World Dictionary
of Plant Names) Falkia/Falckia (Convolvulaceae): honors botanist Johan Peter Falk (Falck) (1733-1774), traveller and pupil of Linnaeus. Fallopia (Polygonaceae): named for the Italian anatomist Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562), professor of anatomy at Padua, discovered the tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus. Fanninia (Apocynaceae): commemorates the Irish
botanist George Fox Fannin (1832-1865) , plant collector and farmer
(died Natal). Faurea (Proteaceae): honors the South African botanist William Caldwell Faure (1822-1844), soldier and naturalist, died at an early age. Felicia (Asteraceae): named by A.H.G. de Cassini
in 1818 after Herr Felix, a German official at Regensburg who died in
1846. It has also been suggested that the generic name could be derived
from the Latin felix meaning cheerful, a reference to the bright
flowers, or that it might have been named for the Italian Fortunato
Bartolomeo de Felice (1723-1789). Ferraria (Iridaceae): commemorates the Italian botanist Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1584-1655), entered the Jesuit order in Rome in 1602, was a professor of Hebrew and Rhetoric at the Jesuit College in Rome, and held a position as horticultural advisor to the papal family. Ficinia (Cyperaceae): named for the German botanist Heinrich David Auguste Ficinus (1782-1857). Finckea (Ericaceae): named by Johann Friedrich Klotzsch for a botanist named Finck. (The Treasury of Botany by John Lindley and Thomas Moore) Fingerhuthia (Poaceae): dedicated to the German botanist and physician Karl Anton Fingerhuth (1798-1876). Fintelmannia (Cyperaceae): ??? Flacourtia (Flacourtiaceae): named for botanist and traveller Étienne de Flacourt (1607-1660), Director of the French East India Company. Flanagania (Apocynaceae): see following entries. flanaganiae (Impatiens): the species name, "flanaganiae," was named after Florence Reynolds (Mrs. Henry George) Flanagan, the lady who discovered it in the Eastern Cape. See flanaganii.. flanaganii (Asclepias, Aspidoglossum, Ceropegia, Cyrtanthus, Ecbolium, Felicia, Geranium, Greyiam, Helichrysum, Mystacidium, Raphionacme, Riocreuxia, Schizoglossum, Selago, Senecio, Tylophora, Vernonia): named after Henry George Flanagan (1861-1919), a South African-born
collector and traveller. Flanagan also owned Prospect Farm in the Komga
District of Eastern Cape, where he developed a noteworthy garden containing
rare exotics as well as South African trees and shrubs. (PlantzAfrica) Flemingia (Fabaceae): named for the English botanist and physician John Fleming (1747-1829), member of the Indian Medical Service in Bengal and Fellow of the Royal and Linnaean Societies. There are also genera Flemingia in the Acanthaceae and Rubiaceae families, but not in South Africa. Fleurya (Urticaceae): one source says this was dedicated to the French plant collector Francis Fleury (1882-1919) who died during an expedition to India and Malaya, however the name was published in 1830 by French botanist Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré so that's not possible. According to information unearthed by David Hollombe, Gaudichaud named a number of new genera after officers involved in his circumglobal expedition from 1817-1820, among whom was a Camile Fleury, so this would seem to be a much greater likelihood. Flueggia (Phyllanthaceae): named for the German physician and cryptogamic botanist Johann Fluggé (1775-1816). Fockea (Apocynaceae): commemorates either: (1) the German physician
Gustav Waldemar Focke, doctor, plant physiologist, and author (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names); or (2) Charles Focke (1802-1856), a Dutch botanist (Eggli & Newton) Forbesia (Hypoxidaceae): after John Forbes (1799-1823), an English plant collector and naturalist who visited the Cape in 1822 with the Horticultural Society of London, and died in Mozambique the following year. (Dictionary of National Biography) forbesii (Aspalathus): see Forbesia. Forsskaolea (Urticaceae): honors the Finnish-born Swedish botanist Pehr Forsskål (1732-1763), botanical traveller in Egypt and Arabia, plant collector and pupil of Linnaeus, died of malaria in Yemen. Forsstroemia (Leptodontaceae): named for the Swedish
pastor and collector Johan Erik Forsström. Frankenia (Frankeniaceae): named after Johan Frankenius
(1590-1661), sometimes written as Franke or Franckenius or Franck, professor
of anatomy, medicine and botany at Uppsala, Sweden, and the first writer
on Swedish plants, author of Speculum botanicum, and a colleague of
Linnaeus. Freesia (Iridaceae): named after F.H.T. Freese (died 1876), a German physician from Kiel and a pupil of Ecklon. (PlantzAfrica) Freylinia (Scrophulariaceae): honors Count L. de Freylino. The Count owned a famous garden in Buttigliera near Marengo in Italy in the early 19 th century. (PlantzAfrica) friderici-huilielmi (Encephalartos):
named and described in 1834 by Professor Johann Georg Christian Lehmann
of Hamburg in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm, King of Prussia, who was a
patron of botany. Friesodielsia (Annonaceae): commemorates the Swedish botanist Elias Magnus Fries (1794-1878), one of the founders of taxonomic mycology, and German botanist Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (1874-1945). Frithia (Aizoaceae): named after Frank Frith (1872-1954),
a railway services gardener stationed at Park Station, Johannesburg,
who took the specimens to Brown at Kew while on a visit to London. (PlantzAfrica) Fuirena (Cyperaceae): honors the Danish botanist
and physician Jørgen Fuiren (1581-1628), traveller through-out
Scandinavia, pupil of (Gaspard?) Bauhin. Gaillardia (Asteraceae): this genus is named for the French magistrate Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th century patron of botany, naturalist, and amateur botanist. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Gaillonia (Rubiaceae): dedicated to the French algologist François Benjamin Gaillon (1782-1839). Galenia (Galeniaceae): for the Greek or Roman (?) Claudius Galen, c. 130-200 AD, one of the most eminent physicians of his age and a prolific writer on medicine. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Galinsoga (Asteraceae): named after the Spanish botanist Mariano Martinez Galinsoga (d. 1797), physician and superintendent of the Madrid Botanical Gardens. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Galpinia (Lythraceae): named for Ernest Edward Galpin (1858-1941), a South African botanist and banker. He left some 16,000 sheets to the National Herbarium in Pretoria and was dubbed "the Prince of Collectors" by General Smuts. Galpin discovered half a dozen genera and many hundreds of new species. Numerous species are named after him and his farm is commemorated in the genus Mosdenia. galpinii (Acacia, Alepidia, Aloe, Anthericum, Asclepias, Bauhinia, Berzelia, Chlorophytum, Crabbea, Cyrtanthus, Dichaelia, Dicoma, Diospyros, Echium, Euryops, Gerbera, Gomphocarpus, Helichrysum, Kleinia, Kniphofia, Lagarinthus, Lotononis, Macrorungia, Metalasia, Metarungia, Myosotis, Notoniopsis, Pachycarpus, Pentzia, Raphionacme, Rhus, Schizoglossum, Searsia, Selago, Senecio, Streptocarpus, Tarconanthus, Thunbergia, Tulbaghia, Vernonia, Watsonia ): see Galpinia. Galtonia (Hyacinthaceae): the genus is named after
Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911), who published a book on his travels
in South Africa, but is better known for his founding work on fingerprints,
eugenics and biometrics. Gardenia (Rubiaceae): honors the English-born American
botanist and physician Alexander Garden (1730-1791), correspondent of
Linnaeus and Fellow of the Royal Society. gayana (Chloris): after Jacques E. Gay, French botanist (1786-1864). (Hugh Clarke) Gazania (Asteraceae): the generic name, Gazania, was given in honor of Theodor of Gaza (1398–1478). He was responsible for the translation of the botanical works of Theophrastus from Greek into Latin. (PlantzAfrica) Geigeria (Asteraceae): after a German pharmacy professor named Dr. L. Geiger of Heidelberg. (Elsa Pooley, Aluka) Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae): named for Stéphanie
Félicité Ducrest de Saint-Aubin, Comtesse de Genlis, who wrote more than 80 works on a wide range of subjects including historical novels and romances. She lived her life against the backdrop of the French Revolution and although she herself was sympathetic to it, her husband was guillotined. (1746-1830). Gerardia (Scrophulariaceae): named for the British physician John Gerard (1545-1612). Gerardina (Scrophulariaceae): ??? Gerbera (Asteraceae): named by Jan Gronovius in
1737 for the Gerber brothers, Fr. Gerber, who collected plants in the
West Indies, and Traugott Gerber, a German medical doctor and naturalist,
and the curator of the oldest botanical garden in Moscow. In spite of
extensive investigations, no link or reason has been found for the choice
of their name for the genus. (PlantzAfrica) One source I found (a Russian website) says that Gerber was a colleague of Gronovius. Gerrardanthus (Cucurbitaceae): honors William Tyrer
Gerrard (c. 1831-1866), British botanical collector in Natal and Madagascar. Gerrardina (Flacourtiaceae): see Gerrardanthus. gibsonii (Nerine): the specific
epithet 'gibsonii' commemorates a Mr. L.F. Gibson of Engcobo in the
former Transkei region of South Africa, who first collected this species
in the mid 1950s. (PlantzAfrica) gillivrayi (Agathosma): after John MacGillivray (1822-1867), a naturalist who collected botanical and zoological specimens from many countries, including South Africa. (Hugh Clarke) Girardinia (Urticaceae): ??? Gisekia (Gisekiaceae): commemorates the German botanist Paul Dietrich Giseke (1741-1796), pupil of Carolus Linnaeus. Gleditsia (Fabaceae): named after the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (Gleditsius) (1714-1786). Gleichenia (Gleicheniaceae): dedicated to the German botanist and microscopist Wilhelm Friedrich von Gleichen-Russworm (1717-1783). Glekia (Scrophulariaceae): honors the German apothecary
and botanical collector Georg Ludwig Engelhard Krebs (1792-1844), naturalist
at the Cape. The name derives from his initials G.L.E.K. gordonii (Hoodia): discovered by Paterson and Col. Robert Jacob Gordon (1743-1795) in December, 1778, in the Upington area. Mr. Francis Masson, a famous botanist, named this plant Stapelia gordonii with the specific epithet named after Gordon, a soldier, explorer, naturalist and artist/illustrator, named the Orange River, introduced Merino sheep to the Cape Colony, and committed suicide in Cape Town (PlantzAfrica) He is the subject of Robert Jacob Gordon 1743-1795 The Man and his Travels at the Cape by Patrick Cullinan. Gorteria (Asteraceae): named after the Dutch botanist
David de Gorter (1717-1783), physician, plant collector, professor of
medicine who studied medicine with Linnaeus, physician of the empress
Elizabeth the Great of Russia. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Gottschea (Schistochilaceae): ??? greatheadii (Aloe): named for Dr. John Baldwin
Smithson Greathead (1854-1910), South African surgeon, game hunter,
naturalist and photographer, collected the first specimen with Selmar
Schönland during their hunting expedition to Botswana. greenii (Aloe, Haworthia): for C.G. or G.H. Green (fl. 1880). (Eggli & Newton) Grevillea (Proteaceae): named for the English horticulturist Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809), who introduced and grew many rare plants 14 of which were illustrated in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, Fellow and Vice-President of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, member of Parliament and a Lord of the Admiralty. Grewia (Tiliaceae): this large genus is named after the English botanist and physiologist Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712), a physician and microscopist, Fellow of the Royal Society, a pioneer in exploring the physiology of plants, and one of the founders of the science of plant anatomy. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Greyia (Greyiaceae): named in honor of Sir George Grey (1812-1898), who was the governor of South Australia, the Cape Colony and New Zealand in the second part of the 19th century. He was also a great patron of botany and an explorer. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Grimmia (Grimmiaceae): named after the German physician and botanist Dr. J.F.K. Grimm of Gotha (died 1821) (Bryophyte Flora of North America) Grisebachia (Ericaceae): honors the German botanist
August Heinrich Rudolph Grisebach (1814-1879), who was a phytogeographer
(i.e. a person who studies the geography of plant distribution), plant
collector and taxonomist, professor of botany, Fellow of the Linnaean
Society, and Director of of the Botanical Garden of Göttingen. Grossera (Euphorbiaceae): named for botanist Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Grosser (1869- ?). Grubbia (Grubbiaceae): honors the Swedish botanist Michael Grubb (1728-1808), minerologist, traveller and botanical collector at the Cape who purchased specimens of dried plants at the Cape and gave them to Prof Peter Bergius, former pupil of Linnaeus. (Hugh Clarke in part) Guatteria (Annonaceae): the name of this very large
genus commemorates the Italian botanist Giovanni Battista Guatteri (1743
or 1739-1793), professor of botany, and founder of the New Botanical
Garden of Parma. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Guettarda (Rubiaceae): named for the French physician, naturalist, botanist and minerologist Jean Étienne Guettard (1715-1786). Guibourtia (Fabaceae): honors the French pharmacologist Nicholas Jean Baptiste Gaston Guibourt (1790-1861). Guilandina (Fabaceae): dedicated to the 16th century
Prussian naturalist and scholar Melchior Guilandinus, traveller, botanist,
professor at the University of Padua and Praefectus of the Botanical
Garden there. Guilleminea (Amaranthaceae): named for French botanist
Jean Baptiste Antoine Guillemin (1796-1842), traveller and author. (CRC
World Dictionary of Plant Names) Gunnera (Gunneraceae): honors the Norwegian clergyman and botanist Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773), Bishop of Trondheim, Norway, founder of the Norwegian Royal Society and publisher of Flora norvegica. Gussonia (Orchidaceae): dedicated to the Italian
botanist Giovanni Gussone (1787-1866).
© 2006-2009 M. Charters, Sierra Madre, CA.
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