Johannes Burman (26 April 1707 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

– 20 February 1780), was a Dutch botanist and physician. Burman specialized in plants from

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Amboina and

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

. The name ''

Pelargonium ''Pelargonium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. ''Geranium'' is also the botanical name and common name of a separa ...

'' was introduced by Johannes Burman. Johannes Burman was the eldest son of the theologian Frans Burman (1671-1719) and his wife Elizabeth Thierens. His brother was the theologian Frans Burman (1708-1793). He started his studies in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

in 1722 under Herman Boerhaave, and qualified in 1728 as a doctor of medicine, after which he practiced in Amsterdam. After the death of

Frederik Ruysch Frederik Ruysch (; March 28, 1638 – February 22, 1731) was a Dutch botanist and anatomist. He is known for developing techniques for preserving anatomical specimens, which he used to create dioramas or scenes incorporating human parts. His ana ...

he was appointed Professor of Botany in Amsterdam. Johannes Burman was married to Adriana van Buuren. Their son

Nicolaas Laurens Burman Nicolaas Laurens Burman (27 December 1734 – 11 September 1793) was a Dutch botanist. He was the son of Johannes Burman (1707–1780). He succeeded his father to the chair of botany at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam., and at the Hortus ...

was also a botanist and studied under Linné in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the ca ...

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

, in 1735 on a trip through Holland, was invited by Burman, carrying a letter of recommendation from Herman Boerhaave. Burman was impressed by the young man and offered him accommodation in his home on Keizersgracht. Linnaeus was employed by Burman almost six weeks to complete a flora of the plants of Ceylon. Burman introduced Linnaeus to George Clifford III and Clifford showed them a fantastic book. It was not in Burman's collections and Clifford said he could have it in exchange for Linnaeus who was employed to survey the gardens and the

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to the m ...

at Hartekamp. Burman was later commemorated by Linné in the genus '' Burmannia'' and family Burmanniaceae. Burmann published his book with plants from the

based on a collection by Nicolaes Witsen, the work of

Caspar Commelin Caspar Commelijn or Caspar Commelin (14 October 1668 Amsterdam – 25 December 1731 Amsterdam), was a Dutch botanist. Life and work He was the son of the bookseller, historian and publisher, Casparus Commelijn and his first wife, Margrieta Heyd ...

and Simon van der Stel? In his book on Amboinese plants he used the work of Rumphius. For research and as illustrations on plants from the West-Indies he used the work of the French botanist

Charles Plumier Charles Plumier (; 20 April 1646 – 20 November 1704) was a French botanist after whom the frangipani genus ''Plumeria'' is named. Plumier is considered one of the most important of the botanical explorers of his time. He made three botanizing ...

Publications

The standard author abbreviation Burm. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Interna ...

. Burman's published works include: * ''Thesaurus zeylanicus, exhibens plantas in insula Zeylana nascentes'' (Amsterdam, 1737). * ''Rariorum Africanarum plantarum'' (Amsterdam, deux parties, 1738-1739). * ''Herbarium Amboinense, plurimas complectens arbores, frutices, herbas..., réédition de l’herbier de Georg Eberhard Rumphius'' (1628-1702) (Amsterdam, six volumes, 1741-1750). * ''Plantarum Americanarum fasciculus primus'' (Amsterdam, 1755-1760). * ''Auctuarium'' (1755). * ''Vacendorfia'' (1757). * ''De ferrariae charactere'' (1757). * ''Flora malabarici'' (1769).

References

External links

*''Herbarium Amboinense'' Amsterdam
17471750
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burman, Johannes 1707 births 1780 deaths 18th-century Dutch botanists Physicians from Amsterdam Scientists from Amsterdam Botanists with author abbreviations