Asuman Baytop (27 March 1920 – 18 February 2015) was a Turkish

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 ...

plant collector A botanical specimen, also called a plant specimen, is a biological specimen of a plant (or part of a plant) used for scientific purposes. Preserved collections of algae, fungi, slime molds, and other organisms traditionally studied by botanists a ...

pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

, and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

known for her research regarding the medicinal properties of the

flora of Turkey The flora of Turkey consists of almost 10,000 species of plants, as well as a number of fungi and algae. Around 32% of Turkey's plants are found only in the country. One reason for the high proportion of endemics is that Anatolia is both mount ...

. In 1964, she founded the Department of Pharmaceutical Botany at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

, and established the department's

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 ...

, to which she contributed more than 23,000 specimens. She is also noted for describing several species of

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennial plant, perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stem ...

, and the species '' Allium baytopiorum'' and '' Colchicum baytopiorum'' are named in her honour. She was married to fellow botanist Turhan Baytop.

Early life and education

Born in Istanbul to Dr. Mehmet Kamil, one of the doctors of Turkey's founder

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

, and Meliha Berk, Asuman Baytop was their third daughter. Entering

's Pharmaceutical Botany and Genetics Institute as an assistant in September 1943, Baytop worked in general

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 ...

, pharmaceutical botany, and

pharmacognosy Pharmacognosy is the interdisciplinary scientific study of natural drugs and bioactive compounds from plants, animals, and minerals—originally focused on identifying crude drugs but now expanded to molecular, chemical, ecological, and medicin ...

courses and laboratories as an assistant of Alfred Heilbronn, a German-Turkish botanist who is considered the founder of modern botany in Turkey. Baytop completed her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1943. She subsequently pursued doctoral studies at the Pharmaceutical Institute of the

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

(ETH) in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland. Under the supervision of Professor , she completed her PhD thesis titled "Contributions à l'étude pharmacognosique de 4 espèces alpines d'Achillea" in 1949.

Academic career

Upon returning to Turkey in 1949, Baytop was appointed as an assistant at the School of Pharmacy, Istanbul University. In 1964, she established the Department of Pharmaceutical Botany at the university and served as its director until her retirement in March 1987. Even after retirement, she continued her research and contributed to the department's activities as a consultant professor emerita. From 1965 to 1987, Baytop served as a member and later head of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Faculty of Pharmacy of Istanbul University, continuing as an editorial board member for two years after her retirement.

Botanical contributions

Plant collection and expeditions

Baytop began collecting plants in 1941 during her student years, on an excursion near Istanbul organised by Professor A. Heilbronn. She continued herborising in the Swiss and Austrian Alps while working on her doctoral thesis. After returning to Turkey, she conducted approximately 160 botanical excursions up to 1987, collecting extensively throughout the country. Often referred to as a 'tireless plant collector' by her daughter, she organized 50 plant-collecting trips to the

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

region, 25 to the Marmara Region (excluding Istanbul), and 75 to different regions in Anatolia. Her collection efforts yielded: *5,870 plant specimens from around

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

*7,470 specimens from

European Turkey East Thrace or Eastern Thrace, also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the part of Turkey that is geographically in Southeast Europe. Turkish Thrace accounts for 3.03% of Turkey's land area and 15% of its population. The largest c ...

*About 16,000 specimens from

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

(including the Istanbul collection) Her complete original collection, housed in the ISTE Herbarium (Herbarium of Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy), contains about 23,300 specimens. The Flora of Turkey (1965-2000) cites 1,876 specimens collected by Baytop. Her contribution to documenting the flora of European Turkey earned her a medal of honour in 1978 at the Second International Symposium on the Problems of Balkan Flora and Vegetation.

New species and taxonomy

Baytop described several new plant taxa for botanical science, including: * ''

Lycium anatolicum ''Lycium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The genus has a disjunct distribution around the globe, with species occurring on most continents in temperate and subtropical regions. South America has the most spec ...

'' * ''

Nonea macrantha ''Nonea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. Sometimes known as monkswort, these are herbaceous perennials or annual plants, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. The leaves are grayish-green, and the plants are hairy all ...

'' * ''

Nonea pulla ''Nonea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. Sometimes known as monkswort, these are herbaceous perennials or annual plants, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. The leaves are grayish-green, and the plants are hairy all o ...

'' * ''

Roemeria carica ''Roemeria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae, native to Macaronesia, Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, the western Himalayas, Pakistan, Xinjiang ...

'' * ''

Silene anatolica ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'' * ''

Gladiolus attilae ''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually called by its generic name (plural ''g ...

'' She also collected numerous new species during her excursions that were subsequently described by other botanists.

Academic contributions

Research and publications

In addition to her work on the Turkish flora, Baytop contributed considerably to the teaching of pharmaceutical botany, publishing books and atlases for students and researchers. She compiled and published the catalogue of the ISTE Herbarium in three volumes between 1984 and 1992. After 1987, Baytop expanded her research interests to include the

history of botany The history of botany examines the human effort to understand life on Earth by tracing the historical development of the discipline of botany—that part of natural science dealing with organisms traditionally treated as plants. Rudimentary ...

. Her pioneering book () was followed by 71 papers on this subject between 1989 and 2013. Baytop authored nearly 200 scientific publications throughout her career, with her first article published in 1943. Her work appeared in numerous journals including ''Turkish Journal of Botany'', ''Folia Pharmaceutica'', ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine'', and ''Acta Pharmaceutica Sciencia''. Even after her retirement in 1987 and her last collecting trip in 1990, she continued her scientific studies on Turkey's flora. She also authored two important

lexicographical Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical lex ...

works that became reference standards for Turkish botanists: () and (). Baytop supervised eight doctoral theses between 1959 and 1982, mentoring a new generation of botanists who would continue research on the Turkish flora.

Recognition and honours

In recognition of her

floristics Floristics is the study of plants of geographical regions. It is a branch of phytogeography, which technically makes it a branch of botany, geography, and a subbranch of biogeography. Harvard University has a history of research with early contr ...

work and services in creating and enriching the Herbarium ISTE, Baytop was awarded the

Service Award A Service award was awarded by a country to a soldier or civilian for long service. It is comparable to a service medal but can be awarded to civilians as well as soldiers. Germany Kingdom of Bavaria * Königliches Ludwigsorden for 50 years' ser ...

() from

Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey (, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies, support and conduct research and development, and to ...

, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, in 1999. The eighth volume of

Peter Hadland Davis Peter Hadland Davis FLS, FRSE (18 June 1918 – 5 March 1992) was a British botanist. Life Davis was born on 18 June 1918 in Weston-super-Mare. Initially he was educated at the Nash House, Burnham-on-Sea and then continued his education at Br ...

's monumental "Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands" was dedicated to Asuman and Turhan Baytop in recognition of their contributions over many years.

Eponymy

At least 15 plant species were named in Baytop's honour, including: * '' Allium baytopiorum'' * '' Allium cyrilli'' subsp. ''asumaniae'' * '' Asphodeline baytopiae'' * '' Cirsium baytopiae'' * '' Colchicum baytopiorum'' * '' Crocus asumaniae'' * '' Crocus baytopiorum'' * '' Fritillaria asumaniae'' * ''Rosa'' 'ASUMAN'

Legacy

Baytop's contributions to botanical science extended beyond her taxonomic work to include education, conservation, and documentation of Turkey's rich plant diversity. Her work documenting

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

s and their

vernacular name Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken form of language, particularly when perceived as having lower social status or less prestige than standard language, which is more codified, institutionally promoted, literary, or formal. More n ...

s helped preserve traditional knowledge, while her extensive plant

collections Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

remain an important scientific resource. Her pioneering work on the history of botany in Turkey established a new field of scholarly inquiry. A special issue of the "Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları / Studies in Ottoman Science" (Vol. XI, 1-2, 2009–2010) was published as the Asuman Baytop

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, including a comprehensive biography and list of her publications compiled by her daughter, professor Feza Günergun.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baytop, Asuman 1920 births 2015 deaths Turkish botanists Turkish women botanists 20th-century Turkish women scientists 20th-century Turkish scientists Academic staff of Istanbul University Lycée Sainte Pulchérie Istanbul alumni 20th-century botanists Istanbul University alumni ETH Zurich alumni