August Wilhelm Eichler, also known under his Latinized name, Augustus Guilielmus Eichler (22 April 1839 – 2 March 1887), was a German

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

who developed a new system of

classification of plants Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants. It is one of the main branches of taxonomy (the science that finds, describes, classifies, and names living things). Plant taxonomy is closely allied ...

to reflect the concept of evolution. His author abbreviation in botany is ''Eichler''.

Biography

Born in Neukirchen, Hesse, Eichler studied at the University of Marburg, Germany, and in 1871 became Professor of

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

at ''

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ). ...

'' (Technical University) of Graz and director of the botanical garden in that city. In 1872 he received an appointment at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded ...

, where he remained until 1878 when he became director of the herbarium at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. He died in Berlin on March 2, 1887, of leukaemia. Eichler made important contributions to the study of the comparative structure of flowers (mainly on

floral symmetry Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

in his work ''Blütendiagramme''). He wrote extensively on the Coniferae,

Cycadaceae ''Cycas'' is a genus of plants belonging to a very ancient lineage, the Cycadophyta, which are not closely related to palms, ferns, trees or any other modern group of plants. They are evergreen perennials which achieved their maximum diversity i ...

and other plant groups of Brazil.

Eichler System

The

Eichler System A system of plant taxonomy, the Eichler system was the first phylogenetic (phyletic) or evolutionary system. It was developed by August W. Eichler (1839–1887), initially in his ''Blüthendiagramme'' (1875–1878) and then in successive editio ...

divided the

plant kingdom Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...

into non-floral plants (

Cryptogamae A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...

) and floral plants ( Phanerogamae). It was the first to accept the concept of evolution and therefore also the first to be considered

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

. Moreover, Eichler was the first taxonomist to separate the Phanerogamae into

Angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

and Gymnosperms and the former into Monocotyledonae and Dicotyledonae. The Eichler system was the foundation for Adolf Engler's System and was widely accepted in Europe and other parts of the world.

Works

* *
Volume I: 1875
*
Volume II: 1878
* ''Syllabus der Vorlesungen über Phanerogamenkunde'' Lipsius und Tischer, Kiel 1876. ** Subsequent editions published as ''Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik'', 2nd ed. 1880, 3rd ed. 1883, 4th ed. 1886, 5th 1890 *** *** *** *** * ''Flora Brasiliensis'' (Flora of Brazil) editor after death of

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD f ...

in 1868 until 1887, succeeded by

Ignatz Urban Ignatz Urban (7 January 1848 – 7 January 1931) was a German botanist. He is known for his contributions to the flora of the Caribbean and Brazil, and for his work as curator of the Berlin Botanical Garden. Born the son of a brewer, Urban sho ...

(Available online a
Botanicus.org Website
* ''Beiträge zur Morphologie und Systematik der Marantaceen'' (1884) * ''Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Palmenblätter'' (1885)
''Caroli Frid. Phil. Martii Flora Brasiliensis, sive''

''Flora Brasiliensis, enumeratio plantarum in Brasilia hactenus detectarum :quas suis aliorumque botanicorum studiis descriptas et methodo naturali digestas partim icone illustratas /ediderunt Carolus Fridericus Philippus de Martius et Augustus Guilielmus Eichler ; iisque defunctis successor Ignatius Urban ; with Martius, Karl Friedrich Philipp von, 1794-1868, Endlicher, István László, 1804-1849, Fenzl, Eduard, 1808-1879, Mary, Benj, Oldenburg, R.Urban and Ignaz, 1848- ''

Notes

# # #
Author Details: Eichler, August Wilhelm (1839-1887)
International Plant Names Index. #

Bibliography

August Wilhelm Eichler. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''

August Wilhelm Eichler. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 23, No. 2 (May, 1887 - May, 1888), pp. 355-356
Obituary
History of Taxonomy: 1875-1926

Annals of Botany 1887
Biography and list of publications *

External links