Werner Rauh (16 May 1913 in Niemegk – 7 April 2000 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) was an internationally renowned German biologist, botanist and author.

Biography

Born in the town of Niemegk near

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle ( ...

, Rauh studied at Biology faculty at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

under the morphologist

Wilhelm Troll Julius Georg Hubertus Wilhelm Troll (3 November 1897, Munich – 28 December 1978, Mainz) was a German botanist, known for his studies in the field of plant morphology. He advocated a morphological biology that was rooted in the nature philoso ...

, and received his doctorate in Botany in 1937 before being appointed to the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

two years later. He discovered or described some 1200 genera, species and varieties of plants from Africa, the Americas and Asia. His fields of specialization were the

Bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa ...

and succulent plants. He was a professor at the

and Director of the Institute of Plant Systematics and Plant Geography as well as Director of the Heidelberger Botanical Gardens, and authored over 300 scholarly books and articles. His work on the succulent and xerophytic flora of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

is presented in his two-volume work ''Succulent and Xerophytic Plants of Madagascar'' in 1995 and 1998. He was honoured in the names of several flowering plants; in 1956,

Curt Backeberg Curt Backeberg (2 August 1894 in Lüneburg, Germany – 14 January 1966) was a German horticulturist especially known for the collection and classification of cacti. Biography He travelled extensively through Central and South America, and publ ...

published ''

Rauhocereus ''Rauhocereus'' is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae) with nocturnal flowers. It is known from northern Peru (Rio Santa The Santa River ( es, Río Santa) is a river in the South American Andes mountain range in the Ancash Region of northwes ...

'' (in the

Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

family), then '' Rauhia'' (in the

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus '' Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryl ...

family) was published in 1957 by

Hamilton Paul Traub Hamilton Paul Traub (June 18, 1890 – July 14, 1983) was an American botanist. He specialized in the study of Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in th ...

. ''

Rauhiella ''Rauhiella'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains three known species, all endemic to Brazil.Forzza, R. C. 2010. Lista de espécies Flora do Brasil http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2010. Jardim Botâ ...

'' was published in 1978 (Orchidaceae) by

Guido Frederico João Pabst Guido Frederico João Pabst (born 19 September 1914 in Porto Alegre, died 27 April 1980 in Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A bot ...

and

Pedro Ivo Soares Braga Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

, then lastly '' Werauhia'' (

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

family) was published in 1995 by

Jason Randall Grant Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He was ...

Selected publications

* ''Kakteen an ihren Standorten'', 1979, * ''Die 100 schönsten Kakteen'', Humboldt-Taschenbuchverlag, 1980, * ''Die großartige Welt der Sukkulenten'', 1979 * ''Schöne Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten'', 1967 * ''Bromelien - Tillandsien und andere kulturwürdige Bromelien'', Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, * ''Succulent and Xerophytic Plants of Madagascar'', Vol. 1 + 2, Strawberry Press, 1995 + 1998,

Expeditions

*1950: Morocco *1954: Peru, Ecuador *1956: Peru *1959/1960: Madagascar, Tasmania, Kenya *1961: Madagascar, South Africa *1963: Madagascar, Comoros *1964: South Africa *1966: Mexico *1967: Peru *1968: South Africa *1969: Madagascar, Comoros *1970: Peru, Mexico *1971: USA *1973: Ecuador, Galapagos Islands Peru, Brazil *1974: Mexico *1975: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama *1976: Peru, Bolivia, Chile *1977: USA Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama *1978: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines *1979: Namibia, South Africa *1980: Mexico, Peru, Ecuador *1981: Brazil *1982: USA, Panama, Dominican Republic *1983: Ecuador, Peru, Argentina *1984: Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama *1985: USA, Mexico, Peru *1986: Brazil *1994: Madagascar

References

External links

* The Werner Rauh Heritage Project (WRHP), http://scriptorium.cos.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?l=en * http://fcbs.org/articles/WernerRauh.htm 20th-century German botanists 1913 births 2000 deaths Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Veitch Memorial Medal recipients University of Halle alumni Heidelberg University faculty Scientists from Saxony-Anhalt {{Germany-botanist-stub