Otto Sendtner (27 June 1813 – 21 April 1859) 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

phytogeographer Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He received his education at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, where he was a student of Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803–1867). Afterwards he served as a private secretary to a

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n nobleman, and during his spare time performed studies of cryptogramic flora of the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...

. In 1841 he was appointed

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the ''Leuchtenbergsche Naturalienkabinett'' in

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

. Two years later he accompanied Mutius von Tommasini (1794–1879) on a botanical excursion through

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

and

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, and in 1847 conducted botanical research in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. During this time period he also performed phytogeographical studies in southern Bavaria. In 1854 he became an associate professor, and in 1857 was appointed to the second chair of botany, as well as first curator of the

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 ...

at the University of Munich. Sendtner was a pioneer in the field of

phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...

, and in his research conducted important analyses involving the vertical distribution patterns of different types of vegetation. The genus ''Sendtnera'' Endl. (1840) is probably named after him, although no etymology is given. Also the

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of '' Halacsya sendtneri'' (Boiss.) Dörfl. was also named in his honour. As a taxonomist he described many plants within the family

Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

. In 1993, the University of Munich started producing ''Sendtnera'', an annually published botanical magazine of the university botany department. It was named after Otto Sendtner. Until Volume 8 in 2002.

Selected publications

* ''Die Vegetationsverhältnisse Südbayerns nach den Grundsätzen der Pflanzengeographie und mit Bezugnahme auf die Landeskultur'' (Vegetation conditions of southern Bavaria in accordance with principles of

plant geography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

and with reference to the local culture), 1854 * ''Die Vegetationsverhältnisse des Bayerischen Waldes nach den Grundsätzen der Pflanzengeographie'' (Vegetation conditions of the

Bavarian Forest image:Zell-bayerischer-wald.jpg, The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest ( or ''Bayerwald'' ; ) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany, that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech Republic, C ...

in accordance with the principles of plant geography), 1860

References

* This article is based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

that includes information from: *
ADB:Sendtner, Otto
@

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sendtner, Otto 19th-century German botanists Scientists from the Kingdom of Bavaria Scientists from Munich Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich German phytogeographers 1813 births 1859 deaths German taxonomists

Selected publications

See also

References