Ludolph Christian Treviranus (18 September 1779 in
Bremen – 6 May 1864 in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
) was a German
botanist born in
Bremen. He was a younger brother to
naturalist Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus
Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (4 February 1776, Bremen – 16 February 1837, Bremen) was a German physician, naturalist, and proto-evolutionary biologist.
His younger brother, Ludolph Christian Treviranus (1779–1864), was also a naturalist ...
(1776–1837).
In 1801 he earned his doctorate at the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
, where he had as instructors; botanist
August Batsch
August Johann Georg Karl Batsch (28 October 1761 – 29 September 1802) was a German naturalist. He was a recognised authority on mushrooms, and also described new species of ferns, bryophytes, and seed plants.
Life and career
Batsch was born ...
(1761–1802) and philosophers
Friedrich Schelling
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...
(1775–1854) and
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814). In 1807 he was a professor at the
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...
at
Bremen, and in 1812 became a professor of
natural history and botany at the
University of Rostock
The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...
, where he was also director of the
botanical gardens
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
. In 1816 he replaced
Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link (1767–1851) as professor of botany at the
University of Breslau
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, and in 1820 transferred to the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
, where he was successor to
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific Germany, German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Carl Li ...
(1776–1858). Treviranus remained at
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
until his death in 1864.
In his earlier studies, he worked mostly in the fields of
plant anatomy
Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal structure of plants. Originally it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th century plant ...
and
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
, afterwards focusing on
taxonomic issues. Between 1815 and 1828, he published noted works on the sexuality and
embryology
Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos ...
of
phanerogam
A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...
s. He is credited for discovery of the intercellular space in a plant's
parenchyma.
The botanical
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Trevirana'' (
Gesneriaceae
Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae) and the New World (most Gesnerioideae), wi ...
) was named in his honor by
Carl Ludwig Willdenow
Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...
(1765–1812).
Google Books
Thesaurus literaturae botanicae omnium gentium: inde a rerum botanicarum ...by Georg August Pritzel
Georg August Pritzel (2 September 1815, Carolath – 14 June 1874) was a German librarian and botanical writer.
He studied in Breslau, graduating with a dissertation titled ''Anemonarum revisio''. In 1851 he began work as a ''Hülfsarbeiter'' at ...
Selected writings
* ''Vom inwendigen Bau der Gewächse'' (On the inward construction of plants), (1806).
* ''Beiträge zur Pflanzenphysiologie'' (Contributions to plant physiology), (1811).
* ''Von der Entwickelung des Embryo und seiner Umhüllungen im Pflanzenei'' (On the development of the embryo and its sheaths in Pflanzenei), (1815).
* ''De ovo vegetabili ejusque mutationibus observationes recentiores'', (1828).
* ''Physiologie der Gewächse'' (Physiology of plants, two volumes), (1835–38).
References
* Biographical information is based on a translation of an article at the German Wikipedia, that includes information fro
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.
External links
IPNI
List of plants described by Treviranus.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treviranus, Ludolph Christian
German taxonomists
1779 births
1864 deaths
Botanists with author abbreviations
Academic staff of the University of Bonn
Academic staff of the University of Rostock
Academic staff of the University of Breslau
Scientists from Bremen
19th-century German botanists