Alida Olbers Wester (13 October 1842 – 29 October 1912) was an early Swedish

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 ...

noted for studying

plant anatomy Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal Anatomy, structure of plants. Originally, it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th centu ...

, particularly the structure of the

pericarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

Life

Alida Olbers was born on 13 October 1842 in

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histo ...

, a small island north of

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. She studied at

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

's higher seminar for women teachers, and until 1904 worked privately as a teacher in Stockholm. In the 1880s and 1890s she conducted research at the Hogskola's Botanical Institute. Olbers researched plant anatomy and morphology, and published eight papers, covering subjects such as flower and fruit anatomy in the pinks ( Caryophyllacaea), mints ( Labiatae), geraniums (

Geraniaceae Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus '' Geranium''. The family includes both the genus '' Geranium'' (the cranesbills, or true geraniums) and the garden plants call ...

) and roses (

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...

). Olbers married M. Wester in 1897, and died in Marstrand on 29 October 1912. She was seventy years old.

Written works

*Olbers, Alida. (1887).
Om fruktväggens byggnad hos Borragineerna
' (in Swedish), P. A. Norstedt.

References

1842 births 1912 deaths 19th-century Swedish botanists 19th-century Swedish women scientists 20th-century Swedish botanists Swedish women botanists 20th-century Swedish women scientists People from Marstrand {{Sweden-botanist-stub