Edward Frederick Leitner, also Friedrich August Ludwig Leitner (4 February 1812, in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
– 15 January 1838) was a German
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
,
naturalist and physician.
At the age of four, his family moved to
Schorndorf after the death of his father. Following studies of
botany at the
University of Tübingen, he moved to the United States after receiving a subsidy from the Society of Natural Sciences in
Württemberg. In 1831 he began taking classes at the
Medical College of South Carolina
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities ac ...
in
Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
. In 1833 collected botanical and zoological specimens in Florida, eventually reaching the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...
, during which, he paid a visit to the
Dry Tortugas.
[JSTOR Global Plants]
biography
In 1834, he graduated from medical college with a dissertation on ''
Hippomane mancinella
The manchineel tree (''Hippomane mancinella'') is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America.
The name "manchineel" (sometimes spel ...
'', subsequently working as a lecturer at the South Carolina Medical Society. In 1836 he returned as a naturalist to the Florida Keys, where in
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, he joined a military group as a guide and surgeon. On 15 January 1838, he was mortally wounded in a skirmish with
Seminoles near
Jupiter Inlet.
[
After his death, 800 of his specimens eventually came into the possession of Jean Louis Cabanis, however these were completely destroyed during the bombing of Berlin in 1943. The genus '' Leitneria'' is named in his honor, as is the family Leitneriaceae, the latter taxa being circumscribed by George Bentham.
]
Publications associated with Leitner
* "Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist", by George Edmund Gifford (1972).Google Books
Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist
References
External links
Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanistBulletin of the History of Medicine. VoL XLVI, No. 6, November–December, 1972
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitner, Edward Frederick
1812 births
1838 deaths
People from Schorndorf
University of Tübingen alumni
19th-century German botanists
German naturalists
German emigrants to the United States