Justus Carl Hasskarl (6 December 1811 – 5 January 1894) was a German explorer and botanist specializing in

pteridophytes A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that reproduces by means of spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as " cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is h ...

bryophytes Bryophytes () are a group of land plants ( embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division referred to as Bryophyta '' sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In t ...

and

spermatophytes 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 ...

Biography

Justus Carl Hasskarl was born in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

in the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of First French Empire, France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, ...

. In his earlier life he studied at a plant nursery in Poppelsdorf in 1827. In 1834 he studied natural history while at the same time preparing himself for an expedition to the tropics. In 1836, he traveled to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and tried to make a living through his knowledge in physics and medicine, with little success. Subsequently, he sent a request to the governor general to work in the National Botanical Garden and a year later he was appointed assistant curator. With director

Johannes Elias Teijsmann Johannes Elias Teijsmann (1 June 1808 – 22 June 1882) was a biologist, botanist and plant collector. He was born in Arnhem, The Netherlands. His surname is sometimes spelled ''Teysmann'', although he spelled it ''Teijsmann''. Teijsmann travelle ...

, they rearranged their crops to taxonomic families, which would result in the displacement of many specimens in the botanical garden. Together they organized expeditions to various parts of modern Indonesia and expand the number of plants collection in the Botanic Garden. Hasskarl also proposed starting a library (Bibliotheca Bogoriensis) which was opened in 1842 and Herbarium Bogoriense in 1844. In 1852, the Netherlands government sent him to

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

and in early 1853, Justus made an expedition to the interior of Peru and even reaching the eastern border of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

, where he gathered

Cinchona ''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...

trees for Malaria treatment. In 1854 he sent his collections of seeds and specimens back to the Netherlands and introduced Cinchona trees to Java, the extract of the tree would later be used to make

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg ...

. However, due to his worsening health he had to return to Netherlands in 1856. Later he participated in examining and describe the

Commelinaceae Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 kn ...

Georg August Schweinfurth Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic Germans, Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa. Life and explorations He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Emp ...

's Abyssinian plant collections and also worked on several plant families, such as ''

Cyathea junghuhniana ''Alsophila junghuhniana'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Cyathea junghuhniana'', is a species of Cyatheales, tree fern native to southern and central Sumatra and western Java, where it grows in forest at an altitude of 1000–2000 m. The trunk o ...

'' in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. In 1855 he became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. He resigned in 1859. The genus ''

Hasskarlia ''Tetrorchidium'' is a genus of flowering plants in 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 ...

'' Baill. in 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 of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

is named in his honor.

References

External links

* 19th-century German botanists 1811 births 1894 deaths Explorers of Indonesia 19th-century German explorers Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from the Kingdom of Westphalia Scientists from Kassel {{Germany-botanist-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links