Paul Friedrich August Ascherson (June 4, 1834 – March 6, 1913) 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 ...

. His author citation is ''Asch.'', although ''Aschers.'' has been used in the past. Ascherson was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1834 as the son of health counsellor. In 1850, he started studying

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, but soon started getting more interested in

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 ...

. In 1855, he received his doctorate for a dissertation about the flora of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

. In the 1850s, he started to botanize in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, including several excursions with Ludwig Schneider and Gustav Maass. In 1860, Ascherson became an assistant at the

Botanical Garden in Berlin The Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum () is a botanical garden in the locality of the borough of , Berlin, Germany. Constructed between 1897 and 1910 under the guidance of architect Adolf Engler, it has an area of and over 20,000 di ...

; in 1865 he also started working at the Royal

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

. In 1863, he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

for specific botany and

plant geography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

. In 1873, Ascherson became associate professor at the University of Berlin. He accompanied

Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (14 April 1831 – 2 June 1896) was a German geographer, explorer, author and adventurer. Biography Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs was born at Vegesack, later part of Bremen. His father was a physician, and encouraged Rohlf ...

on his 1873/74 expedition in the

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n desert. After 1876, he went on further expeditions in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, publishing fundamental works about the flora of the continent. In the 1890s he botanized in Jerichower Land and in the

Vorharz Vorharz is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated east of Halberstadt. It was created on 1 January 2010. The seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' is in Wegeleben. The ''Verba ...

along with

Paul Graebner Carl Otto Robert Peter Paul Graebner (29 June 1871 in Aplerbeck – 6 February 1933 in Berlin) was a German botanist. In 1895 he obtained his doctorate in Berlin, successively working as an assistant and then as curator (1904) at the botanical ga ...

. Ascherson is known for combining works about the flora in certain localities with his own observations to write descriptions of the flora of a larger territory. He was also an

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. Insect collections made by him in Africa are conserved in

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

in Berlin. In 1848 botanist Mont. published ''

Aschersonia ''Aschersonia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Hypocreales and family Clavicipitaceae. The genus name was erected in honour of Paul Friedrich August Ascherson (1834–1913), a German botanist. Species in this genus include entomopathogenic ...

'', is a

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 ...

of fungi in the order

Hypocreales The Hypocreales are an order of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. In 2008, it was estimated that it contained some 237 genera, and 2647 species in seven families. Since then, a considerable number of further taxa have been identified, in ...

and family

Clavicipitaceae The Clavicipitaceae are a family (biology), family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genus, genera in the family, but a study in 2020 has increased this number to 50. Phylogeny Molecular phylogeny, phylogenetic ana ...

named in Ascherson's honour.

Works

* ''Flora der Provinz Brandenburg, der Altmark und des Herzogthums Magdeburg. Zum gebrauche in schulen und auf excursionen.'' Berlin, August Hirschwald, 1864 * ''Catalogus cormophytorum et anthophytorum Serbiae, Bosniae, Hercegovinae, Montis Scodri, Albaniae hucusque cognitorum.'' Claudiopoli, Typ. N.K. Papp, 1877 * ''Synopsis der mitteleuropaïschen Flora.'' Leipzig : W. Engelmann, 1896 * ''Flora des nordostdeutschen flachlandes (ausser Ostpreussen).'' Berlin, Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1898–99 * ''Nordostdeutsche Schulflora : Tabellen zur Bestimmung der wildwachsenden und der häufiger angebauten Blüten- und Farnpflanzen der Provinzen Brandenburg, Pommern, Posen, Ost- und Westpreussen, und Sachsen (Nordhälfte), der Grossherzogtümer Mecklenburg und des Herzogtums Anhalt nach der Flora des nordostdeutschen Flachlandes.'' Berlin : Borntraeger, 1902 * ''Potamogetonaceae.'' Leipzig : Engelmann, 1907

Notes

References

* Grünzel, Hermann
Ascherson, Paul Friedrich August
in

Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon The ''Magdeburger Biographische Lexikon'' (short ''MBL'') is a specialized dictionary for biographies related to the city of Magdeburg and the surrounding districts of Börde, Jerichower Land, and the former Schönebeck Land. It is the definitiv ...

. Retrieved August 27, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ascherson, Paul Friedrich August 19th-century German botanists German entomologists Scientists from Berlin Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin 1834 births 1913 deaths Botanists from the Kingdom of Prussia