Johann Christoph Röhling (27 April 1757 – 19 December 1813) 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 ...

and

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

who was a native of Gundernhausen, a town near

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

, and later taught school in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. In 1792 he became a pastor in

Braubach Braubach () is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km southeast of Koblenz. Braubach has assorted medieval architecture intact, including ...

, and in 1800, a parish priest in Breckenheim. Röhling was the author of "''Deutschlands Flora''", an important treatise on German flora, of which the first edition was published in 1796. He also published a work on

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ho ...

of Germany titled "''Deutschlands Moose''" (1800). He was the

taxonomic authority In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

of the plant genus ''Melandrium'' (family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

). The plant genus ''Roehlingia'' (family

Dilleniaceae Dilleniaceae is a family of flowering plants with 11 genera and about 430 known species. It is known to gardeners for the genus '' Hibbertia'', which contains many commercially valuable garden species. Description and distribution The family is ...

) was named after him by

August Wilhelm Dennstedt August Wilhelm Dennstedt (1776–1826), surname sometimes spelled Dennstaedt, was a German physician and botanist who was bürgermeister of Magdala, a town near Weimar. From 1817 he was scientific director of the Grand Ducal Garden in Belved ...

References

Wikisource
translated biography @

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

1757 births 1813 deaths People from Darmstadt-Dieburg German Protestant clergy 19th-century German botanists Bryologists 18th-century German botanists {{Germany-botanist-stub