Ferdinand Albin Pax (26 July 1858 – 1 March 1942) was a German botanist specializing in

spermatophyte 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. A collaborator of Adolf Engler, he wrote several monographs and described several species of plants and animals from Silesia and the Carpathians. He was a professor at Wrocław University from 1893. His son Ferdinand Albert Pax (1885–1964) was a noted zoologist.

Life and work

Pax was born on 26 July 1858 in

Dvůr Králové nad Labem Dvůr Králové nad Labem (, german: Königinhof an der Elbe) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It lies in the Elbe river valley. Dvůr Králové nad Labem is kn ...

, in what was then known as Bohemia, to Carl Ferdinand, a mine superintendent in Schatzlar, and Elisabeth Haas (died 1861). He graduated from the Kamienna Góra gymnasium and joined the University of Wrocław. He received a PhD in 1882 studying under Heinrich Göppert and moved to Kiel and habilitated in 1886 for studies on the Cyperaceae. He served as an assistant at the Botanical Garden and moved to Berlin in 1889 where he worked with Adolf Engler. In 1893 he became the chair of botany at Wrocław. He became a professor of

botany Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), 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 "bot ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

at the University of Wrocław. Pax was a specialist on the plants in the families ''Primulaceae'', ''Euphorbiaceae'' and ''Aceraceae.'' He was married to Marie Serbin and they had a son Ferdinand Albert Pax, who became a zoologist and specialist on corals. Pax died on 1 March 1942 in Wroclaw, which at the time was part of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and was buried at Ślężna. Gradina Botanica IV

Selected publications

The following are just two among numerous papers and monographs. He was one of the most prolific collaborators of Adolf Engler. A more complete list can be found in Stafleu & Cowan (1983). He described a number of plant species. * , in * , in Plant genera that have been named after Pax include ''Neopaxia'', ''Paxia'', ''Paxiodendron'', ''Paxina'' and ''Paxiuscula''. Taxa named by him (along with others like Engler) include '' Acalypha'', '' Acidoton'', ''

Adenochlaena ''Adenochlaena'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1858. It is native to certain islands in the Indian Ocean.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of ...

'', ''

Annesijoa novoguineensis ''Annesijoa'' is a monotypic genus of plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. The sole species, ''Annesijoa novoguineensis'' is endemic to New Guinea. Etymology ''Annesijoa'' is a taxonomic anagram derived from the name of the confamilial genus '' ...

'', ''

Argomuellera ''Argomuellera'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1894. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the Comoros Islands.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist ...

'', '' Blachia'', '' Cephalocrotonopsis'', '' Chonocentrum'', '' Cladogynos orientalis'', '' Cleistanthus'', '' Conceveiba'', '' Crotonogynopsis'', '' Deuteromallotus'', '' Discoclaoxylon'', '' Emblingiaceae'', '' Erythrococca'', '' Haematostemon'', '' Hippeastrum'', '' Jatropha'', '' Lingelsheimia'', ''

Mareyopsis ''Mareyopsis'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1919. It is native to western and central Africa.Barberá, P., Velayos, M. & Aedo, C. (2013). Annotated checklist and identification keys of the Acalyphoide ...

'', ''

Mildbraedia ''Mildbraedia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1909. The entire genus is native to Africa.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and ...

'', '' Monadenium'', ''

Necepsia ''Necepsia'' is a plant genus of the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1910. It is native to Madagascar and to tropical Africa.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliog ...

'', ''

Neoscortechinia ''Neoscortechinia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1897. It is native to Southeast Asia and Papuasia Papuasia is a Level 2 botanical region defined in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording ...

'', ''

Neotrewia cumingii ''Mallotus cumingii'' is a species of plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, occurring in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It is a shrub or small tree growing to tall. Distribution and habitat The nati ...

'', ''

Octospermum pleiogynum ''Mallotus pleiogynus'' is a species of the spurge family ( Euphorbiaceae). It is found in New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is ...

'', '' Pachystylidium hirsutum'', '' Petalodiscus'', ''

Plukenetia ''Plukenetia'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread in tropical regions of Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are ...

'', ''

Pseudagrostistachys ''Pseudagrostistachys'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1912. It is native to tropical Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. ...

'',

Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia ''Pseudolachnostylis'' is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1899. It contains only one known species, ''Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia'' native to central and southern Africa. Its common name is kudu ...

, '' Ptychopyxis'', '' Romanoa'', ''

Sphaerostylis ''Sphaerostylis'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1858. The entire genus is endemic to Madagascar.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbi ...

'', ''

Tetraplandra ''Algernonia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1858. It is native to Peru and Brazil.Webster, G. L. 2007. Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in American Euphorbiaceae sensu lato. Contributions from ...

'', ''

Thecacoris ''Thecacoris'' is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family (biology), family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1821. It is native to tropical Africa and Madagascar. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate p ...

'', and '' Zimmermannia''.

References

External links

Index of Botanists - Pax, Ferdinand Albin
from the Harvard University Herbaria {{DEFAULTSORT:Pax, Ferdinand Albin 1858 births 1942 deaths 20th-century German botanists 19th-century German botanists People from Dvůr Králové nad Labem German Bohemian people Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina University of Breslau faculty