Albrecht Wilhelm Roth (6 January 1757 – 16 October 1834) was a physician and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

born in Dötlingen,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He studied medicine at the Universities of Halle and

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1778. After graduation, he practiced medicine in Dötlingen, and shortly afterwards relocated to Bremen-Vegesack. From 1785 to 1787 he issued an

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

under the title ''Herbarium vivum plantarum officinalium nebst einer Anweisung Pflanzen zum medizinischen Gebrauche zu sammeln''. Roth is remembered for his influential scientific publications, particularly in the field of

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. His botanical research and writings came to the attention of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

(1749–1832), who recommended Roth to a position at the botanical institute at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. Two of his better written works were ''Tentamen florae germanica'' (a treatise on German flora), and ''Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientalis'' (a book of Indian flora). The latter work is primarily based on botanical specimens collected by Moravian missionary Benjamin Heyne (1770–1819). The botanical

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Rothia'' from the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

is named after him. Linnaeus-Obelisk - Bremen - 2011

Selected writings

* ''Anweisung für Anfänger Pflanzen zum Nutzen und Vergnügen zu sammlen und nach dem Linneischen System zu bestimmen'', 1778. * ''Beyträge zur Botanik'', 1782–1783 * ''Tentamen florae germanicae'', 1788–1800 * ''Catalecta botanica'' (with

Franz Carl Mertens Franz Carl Mertens (3 April 1764 – 19 June 1831) was a German botanist who was a native of Bielefeld. He specialized in the field of phycology. Mertens studied theology and languages at the University of Halle, and after graduation taught ...

), 1797–1806 * ''Anweisung Pflanzen zum Nutzen und Vergnügen zu sammeln und nach dem Linneischen Systeme zu bestimmen'', 1803. * ''Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientalis'', 1821.Google Books
Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientalis * ''Enumeratio plantarum phaenogamarum in Germania sponte nascentium'', 1827 * ''Manuale botanicum'', 1830

References

External links

* 1757 births 1834 deaths 18th-century German physicians 19th-century German botanists People from Oldenburg (district) University of Halle alumni University of Erlangen–Nuremberg alumni Prussian physicians Botanists from the Kingdom of Prussia {{Germany-botanist-stub