Johann Jacob Dillen Dillenius (1684 – 2 April 1747) 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 ...

. He is known for his ''Hortus Elthamensis'' ("Eltham Garden") on the rare plants around Eltham, London, and for his ''Historia muscorum'' ("History of Mosses"), a natural history of lower plants including

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es,

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

s, hornworts, lycopods,

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s and

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

Biography

Dillenius was born at

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 ...

and was educated at the University of Giessen, earlier the family name had been changed from Dillen to Dillenius. In 1721, at the instance of the botanist William Sherard (1659–1728), he moved to England. In 1734 Dillenius was appointed Sherardian professor of botany at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, in accordance with the will of Sherard, who at his death in 1728 left the university £3000 for the endowment of the chair, as well as his library and

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

, all on the condition that Dillenius should be appointed the first professor. Dillenius died at Oxford, of apoplexy. His manuscripts, books and collections of dried plants, with many drawings, were bought by his successor at Oxford, Dr. Humphry Sibthorp (1713–1797), and ultimately passed into the possession of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. For an account of his collections preserved at Oxford, see ''The Dillenian Herbaria'', by G. Claridge Druce (Oxford, 1907).

Work

At Giessen Dillenius wrote botanical papers for the ''Ephemerides naturae curiosorum''. He printed, in 1719, his ''

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

'' of the university's surroundings, a ''Catalogus plantarum sponte circa Gissam nascentium'', illustrated with figures he had personally drawn and engraved, with descriptions of several new species. In 1724 Dillenius published the third edition of John Ray's ''Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum''. It incorporated plant species discovered by Samuel Brewer, and work on mosses by Adam Buddle. It remained a standard reference for British botanists until the appearance of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

's ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'' in 1761.

''Hortus Elthamensis''

In 1732 he published ''Hortus Elthamensis'', a substantial catalogue in two volumes of some 400 plants growing at Eltham, London, in the collection of Sherard's younger brother, James (1666—1738), who, after making a fortune as an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

, devoted himself to gardening and music. For this work Dillenius himself drew and engraved 324 plates, containing 417 figures of the plants. The title called the plants "rare", but the botanist Will Tjaden comments that they were "often only uncommon and not always of very recent introduction." The book was described by Linnaeus, who spent a month with him at

in 1736, and afterwards dedicated his '' Critica Botanica'' to him, as ''opus botanicum quo absolutius mundus non vidit'', "a botanical work of which the world has not seen one more authoritative". Linnaeus later named a genus of tropical tree '' Dillenia'' in his honour. File:Hortus Elthamensis titlepage.jpg, Title page of ''Hortus Elthamensis'', 1732 File:P inquinans Dillenius.jpg, '' Pelargonium inquinans''

''Historia muscorum''

Dillenius wrote ''Historia muscorum'' (1741), a natural history of lower plants including

es,

s, hornworts, lycopods,

s and

. He acknowledged the help of George Charles Deering. They had met at John Martyn's club for botanists, and had studied

together. Historia muscorum 0 title page.jpg, Title page, 1768 edition Historia muscorum plate 6 Conserva.jpg, 6 Conferva Historia muscorum plate 8 Tremella.jpg, 8 Tremella Historia muscorum plate 11 Usnea.jpg, 11 Usnea (beard lichens) Historia muscorum plate 14 Coralloides.jpg, 14 Coralloides ( cup lichens) Historia muscorum plate 18 Lichenoides.jpg, 18 Lichenoides (

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

s) Historia muscorum plate 32 Sphagnum.jpg, 32

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

(bog moss) Historia muscorum plate 38 Hypnum.jpg, 38 Hypnum Historia muscorum plate 46 Bryum.jpg, 46 Bryum Historia muscorum plate 56 Selago.jpg, 56 Selago Historia muscorum plate 59 Lycopodium.jpg, 59 Lycopodium Historia muscorum plate 76 Lichen (liverworts).jpg, 76 Lichen (

liverworts Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plant, non-vascular embryophyte, land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in wh ...

) Historia muscorum plate 79 Pilularia.jpg, 79 Pilularia File:Historia muscorum plate 80 Calamaria.jpg, 80 Calamaria Historia muscorum plate 81 Subularia.jpg, 81 Subularia

Honours

In 1753,

in his ''Species Plantarum'' published '' Dillenia'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family Dilleniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

, and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

islands, both genus and family named in Dillenius's honour. In 1997, the Spanish botanist Gerardo Antonio Aymard Corredor published '' Neodillenia'', a genus of

s from South America belonging to the family Dilleniaceae, named in Dillenius's honour.

Selected publications

* *
also
on Gallica * *
Facsimile edition 1973
, Ray Society, London. With introduction by William T. Stearn. *

References

Bibliography

Illustrations from Johann Jacob Dillenius ''Hortus Elthamensis'' 1732

Dictionary of Scientific Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillenius, Johann Jacob 1687 births 1747 deaths German bryologists German pteridologists Botanists with author abbreviations 18th-century German botanists German mycologists Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century German people Sherardian Professors of Botany