Gérard Daniel Westendorp (8 March 1813,

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

– 31 January 1869,

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; , ) is a city in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders in Belgium. The Municipalities of Belgium, municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, M ...

) was a Dutch born, Belgian military physician and

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 ...

. He studied medicine at the ''Ecole de Médecine de Bruxelles'', later working as a student-physician in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. Around 1834, he became a naturalized citizen of Belgium, subsequently serving as an assistant army and navy physician, later spending his career as a "regular doctor" in the Belgian army.Revue du Cercle de Mycologie de Bruxelles
Quelques grandes figures de la mycologie belge par André Fraiture As a botanist, he specialized in

cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being multicellular, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via sp ...

ic flora, being the co-publisher (with A.C.F. Wallays) of a cryptogamic

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 of Belgium. He also made significant contributions towards the "Prodromus Florae Batavae" project (1850-1866). In the field of

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 ...

, he published a treatise on

Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...

and

sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...

s of Belgium. Westendorp's botanical specimens are preserved in the '' Jardin Botanique National de Belgique''.

Selected works

* ''Herbier cryptogamique, ou, Collection des plantes cryptogames et agames qui croissent en Belgique'', 1845-1859 (

series; starting with 1849 together with A.C.F. Wallays).Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. * ''Notices sur quelques cryptogames'', 1851-1863. * ''Polypiers flexibles de la Belgique. Collection des bryozaires, sertulaires, flustres & spongiaires qu'on rencontre en Belgique, et particuliérement aux environs d'Ostende'', 1853. * ''Les cryptogames : classes d'apres leurs stations naturelles'', 1854. * ''Description de quelques Cryptogames inédites ou nouvelles pour la flore des deux Flandres'', 1863.WorldCat Search
(publications)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westendorp, Gerard Daniel 1813 births 1869 deaths 19th-century Belgian botanists Belgian mycologists Physicians from The Hague Scientists from The Hague