Ferdinand Albin Pax (26 July 1858 – 1 March 1942) 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 ...

specializing in

spermatophyte A seed plant or spermatophyte (; New Latin ''spermat-'' and Greek ' (phytón), plant), also known as a phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or a phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds. It is a category of embryophyte (i.e. la ...

s. A collaborator of

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with K ...

, he wrote several monographs and described several species of plants and animals from Silesia and the Carpathians. He was a professor at

Wrocław University Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central ...

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, in what was then known as

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, to Carl Ferdinand, a mine superintendent in

Žacléř Žacléř (; ) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Ža ...

, 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 Johann Heinrich Robert Göppert (25 July 1800 – 18 May 1884) was a German botanist and paleontologist. Career He was born in Sprottau, Lower Silesia, and died at Breslau. In 1831, he became a professor of botany, as well as curator of the bo ...

and moved to Kiel and

habilitated 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 excellen ...

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

. In 1893 he became the chair of botany at Wrocław. He became a professor of

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 ...

and

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

. Pax was a specialist on the plants in the families ''Primulaceae'', ''Euphorbiaceae'' and ''Aceraceae.'' Together with

Georg Hans Emmo Wolfgang Hieronymus Georg Hans Emmo Wolfgang Hieronymus (1846–1921) was a European botanist of German extraction. He was born in Silesia and died in Berlin. He began his career as a medical student in Zürich and Bern from 1868 to 1870, but became interested in b ...

he worked also in the field of cecidology (studying plant

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

s) and started the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

series ''Herbarium cecidiologicum'' in 1892. He continued this work together with Rudolph Dittrich and later R. Dittrich and

Alexander von Lingelsheim Alexander von Lingelsheim (27 September 1874, in Arolsen – 5 March 1937, in Breslau) was a German botanist and pharmacist. He studied natural sciences at the University of Breslau, and for many years he worked as an assistant in its botanica ...

. 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

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, which at the time was part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and was buried at Ślężna.

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 ''Acalypha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. It is one of the largest euphorb genera, with approximately 450 to 462 species. The genus name ''Acalypha'' is from the ...

'', '' Acidoton'', '' Adenochlaena'', '' Annesijoa novoguineensis'', '' Argomuellera'', '' Blachia'', '' Cephalocrotonopsis'', ''

Chonocentrum ''Chonocentrum'' is a genus of the family Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the eudicot Order (biology), order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. ...

'', '' Cladogynos orientalis'', ''

Cleistanthus ''Cleistanthus'' is a plant genus of the family Phyllanthaceae, tribe Bridelieae, first described as a genus in 1848. It is widespread in much of the Old World Tropics in Asia, Africa, Australia, and various oceanic islands. '' Cleistanthus col ...

'', ''

Conceveiba ''Conceveiba'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1775. It is native to South America and Central America.De S.Secco, R. (2004). Alchorneae (Euphorbiaceae) ''(Alchornea, Aparisthmium ''e'' Conceveiba).'' F ...

'', ''

Crotonogynopsis ''Crotonogynopsis'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1899. It is native to tropical Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 mil ...

'', ''

Deuteromallotus ''Hancea'' is a genus of plants in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae, native to tropical Asia and the western Indian Ocean. Species , Plants of the World Online accepted the following species: * ''Hancea acuminata'' * ''Hancea capuron ...

'', ''

Discoclaoxylon ''Discoclaoxylon'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1914. It is native to western and central Africa, including islands in the Gulf of Guinea.Barberá, P., Velayos, M. & Aedo, C. (2013). Annotated checklist and ide ...

'', ''

Emblingiaceae ''Emblingia'' is a monospecific plant genus containing the species ''Emblingia calceoliflora'', a herbaceous prostrate subshrub endemic to Western Australia. It has no close relatives, and is now generally placed alone in family Emblingiaceae. D ...

'', ''

Erythrococca ''Erythrococca'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1849. It is native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Afr ...

'', ''

Haematostemon ''Haematostemon'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1919. It is native to northeastern South America (Guyana and S Venezuela).Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flo ...

'', ''

Hippeastrum ''Hippeastrum'' () is a genus of 116 species, and over 600 Hybrid (biology), hybrids and cultivars, of perennial plant, perennial, herbaceous plant, herbaceous and bulbous plants, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, ...

'', ''

Jatropha ''Jatropha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός (''iatros''), meaning "physician", and τροφή (''trophe''), meaning "nutrition", hence the common name ph ...

'', '' 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'', '' Monadenium'', ''

Necepsia ''Necepsia'' is a plant genus of the 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 Bibliography of Euphorbia ...

'', ''

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.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorb ...

'', '' Neotrewia cumingii'', '' Octospermum pleiogynum'', '' Pachystylidium hirsutum'', ''

Petalodiscus ''Wielandia'' is a genus of flowering plant, of the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1858. The plants are native to Kenya, Madagascar, and to various other islands in the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-larges ...

'', ''

Plukenetia ''Plukenetia'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread in tropical regions of Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, ...

'', ''

Pseudagrostistachys ''Pseudagrostistachys'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1912. It is native to tropical Africa. ;Species # '' Pseudagrostistachys africana'' (Müll.Arg.) Pax & K.Hoffm. - Ghana, Nigeria, Congo-Brazzavill ...

'', ''

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 (biology), 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 Bibliog ...

'', ''

Tetraplandra ''Algernonia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus ...

'', '' Thecacoris'', and ''

Zimmermannia ''Meineckia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1858. ''Meineckia'' is one of eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae.Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2008. "A phylogenetic classific ...

''.

References

External links

Index of Botanists – Pax, Ferdinand Albin
from the

Harvard University Herbaria The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natura ...

{{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 National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Academic staff of the University of Breslau