Johan Martin Christian Lange (20 March 1818 – 3 April 1898) was a prominent

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

botanist. He held the post of Librarian at the Botanical library of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

from 1851 to 1858. He was Director of the Botanical Garden there from 1856 to 1876, the Reader of botany at the

Danish Technical University The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's fir ...

from 1857 to 1862, and Reader of Botany at the

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University ( da, Kongelige Veterinær- og Landbohøjskole, abbr. KVL) was a veterinary medicine, veterinary and agricultural science university in Denmark. It was founded in 1856 and operated until 2007, when ...

from 1858 to 1893, achieving full professor standing in 1892. He began editing the

Flora Danica ''Flora Danica'' is a comprehensive atlas of botany from the Age of Enlightenment, containing folio-sized pictures of all the wild plants native to Denmark, in the period from 1761 to 1883. History ''Flora Danica'' was proposed by G. C. Oede ...

in 1858, and was its last editor. Together with

Japetus Steenstrup Johannes Japetus Smith Steenstrup FRS(For) HFRSE (8 March 1813 – 20 June 1897) was a Danish zoologist, biologist, and professor. Life Born in Vang, Thy on 8 March 1813, he held a lectorate in mineralogy in Sorø until 1845 when he became a ...

, Johan Lange was the publisher of

fasc. 44 (1858). Thereafter, he edited alone fasc. 45-51 (1861–83) and Supplement vols 2-3 (1865–74), in total 600 plates. After having finished the publication of

, he issued ''Nomenclator Floræ Danicæ'' in 1887 - a volume indexing all planches in

alphabetically, systematically and chronologically. He travelled throughout Europe, completing extensive studies on the flora of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...

and other European countries, especially

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. (Willkomm & Lange, Prodromus Florae Hispanicae, 1861–80). He expanded on the classification developed by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

, writing ''Plantenavne og navngivningsregler (Plant-names and rules for name-giving)'' which was influential in developing the Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the system in use today.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

borrowed a book written by Lange, which he failed to return in a timely manner as mentioned by Darwin in his correspondence

He is honoured in the naming of a

fungi A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

genus in 1891, ''

Willkommlangea ''Willkommlangea reticulata'' is a slime mold species from the order Physarales and the only species of the genus ''Willkommlangea''. It is common worldwide, but rare in Europe. The tropics are possibly the main area of habitat. Characteris ...

'' (jointly with

Heinrich Moritz Willkomm Heinrich Moritz Willkomm (29 June 1821, Herwigsdorf – 26 August 1895, Schloss Wartenberg in Wartenberg am Rollberg, Bohemia) was a German academic and botanist. He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, later being named a profe ...

(1821-1895), who was a German academic and botanist).

Partial list of publications

* *Icones plantarum sponte nascentium in regnis Daniae et Norvegiae, in ducatibus Slesvici et Holsatiae et in comitatibus Oldenburgi et Delmenhorstiae: (Pictures of the plants growing wild in the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, in the duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, and in the principalities of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst) * * *Conspectus florae groenlandicae: Grønlands mosser (Muscineae) (Overview of the mosses of Greenland) *Conspectus florae groenlandicae: 1. Fanerogamer og karsporeplanter (Overview of the vascular plants of Greenland) *Conspectus florae groenlandicae: Tillæg til fanerogamerne og karsporeplanterne (Overview of the plants of Greenland, Supplement to vascular plants) * * ''Flora Danica'' * * * * *

References

Johan Lange, Selected PublicationsDarwin Correspondence Project
1818 births 1898 deaths 19th-century Danish botanists Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala {{denmark-botanist-stub