Edward Frederick Leitner, also Friedrich August Ludwig Leitner (February 4, 1812 – January 15, 1838) was a German

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 ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and physician. He was killed in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

during the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

after volunteering to be a

combat medic A combat medic is responsible for providing emergency medicine, emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illnes ...

. Frederick Leitner was born in Stuttgart on February 4, 1812 to Johann Friedrich Leitner and Karoline Friedericke Bühler. His father was a gardener in the court of King

Frederick I of Württemberg Frederick I (Frederick William Charles, ; 6 November 1754 – 30 October 1816) was the ruler of Württemberg from 1797 to his death. He was the last Duke of Württemberg from 1797 to 1803, then the first and only Elector of Württemberg from ...

. At the age of four, his family moved to

Schorndorf Schorndorf () is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn. The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler T ...

after the death of his father. Following studies 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 ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, he moved to the United States after receiving a subsidy from the Society of Natural Sciences in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. In 1831, Leitner began taking classes at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. In 1832, he befriended the famous naturalist

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...

while he was visiting Charleston. In 1833, he began to travel to Florida and collect botanical and zoological specimens in the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

. During his travels he eventually reached the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

, during which, he paid a visit to the

Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...

.JSTOR Global Plants
biographyIn 1834, he graduated from medical college with a dissertation on ''

Hippomane mancinella The manchineel tree (''Hippomane mancinella'') is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America. The name ''manchineel'' (sometimes sp ...

'', subsequently working as a lecturer at the South Carolina Medical Society. The

Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

that began in 1835 obstructed Leitner's research in South Florida, as the region had become a dangerous war zone. Leitner planned to join a U.S. Military unit, as it was the only way he could still travel through Florida and continue his research. In 1836 he traveled to

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, where he joined U.S. Navy Lieutenant Levin M. Powell's unit as a guide and surgeon. On 15 January 1838, he was killed by

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

warriors at the First Battle of the Loxahatchee. It was reported in a newspaper that he was likely targeted by the Seminoles because of his role as a combat medic. His body was never recovered after the battle. At the time of Leitner's death, he was considered one of the world's leading experts on Florida's nature. After his death, 800 of his specimens eventually came into the possession of

Jean Louis Cabanis Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. He worked at the bird collections of the Natural History Museum in Berlin becoming its first curator of birds in 1850. He founded the ''Journal für Ornithologie ...

in Germany, however these specimens were completely destroyed during the Bombing of Berlin in 1943. The genus '' Leitneria'' is named in his honor, as is the family Leitneriaceae, the latter taxa being circumscribed by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

Publications associated with Leitner

* "Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist", by George Edmund Gifford (1972).Google Books
Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist

References

External links

Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist
Bulletin of the History of Medicine. VoL XLVI, No. 6, November–December, 1972 {{DEFAULTSORT:Leitner, Edward Frederick 1812 births 1838 deaths People from Schorndorf 19th-century German botanists 19th-century German naturalists Deaths by firearm in Florida American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars Medical University of South Carolina alumni Württemberger emigrants to the United States University of Tübingen alumni People from Stuttgart People from Charleston, South Carolina German explorers of North America Combat medics