Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (20 February 1809, in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

– 24 January 1889, in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

), was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

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 ...

, specialising in the

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

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and

central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. He was the son of Ernst Christian Johann von Trautvetter (1780-1859), Professor of Philosophy.Geni
(genealogy) He studied medicine and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. From 1829 to 1831, he conducted botanical field trips throughout

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

, returning to Jelgava in 1831 as a private instructor.JSTOR Global Plants
(biography) In 1833, he began work as an assistant at the botanical garden in Dorpat, two years later, performing similar duties at the botanical garden in St. Petersburg. In 1838 he relocated to

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

as a professor of botany and director of the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

. During his many years in Kiev, he served as

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

rector from 1847 to 1859. Later in his career, he returned to the botanical garden in St. Petersburg as an administrator and director. Here, he was tasked with publishing an account of the garden's history. He is honoured in the name of the

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

, ''Acer trautvetteri'' (Trautvetter's Maple), native to the Caucasus, and the genus ''

Trautvetteria ''Trautvetteria'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native from the Russian Far East to Japan, and to the southwestern and south central United States and Mexico. The genus was established in 1835. Species , Plants of t ...

''.

Selected works

Among his numerous writings were treatises on the genera ''

Echinops ''Echinops'' is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They have spiny foliage and produce blue or white spherical flower heads. They are distributed from central Asia, Mongo ...

'' and ''

Trifolium Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversity ...

''. The following are a few of his principal publications: * ''Ueber die Nebenblätter: Eine naturwissenschaftliche Abhandlung'', 1831 Trautvetter's first publication, a work on plant

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s. * ''Grundriss einer Geschichte der Botanik in bezug auf Russland'', 1837 - Outline on the history of Russian botany as a reference. * Plantarum imagines et descriptiones floram russicam illustrantes, 1844 * ''Die pflanzengeographischen Verhältnisse des Europäischen Russlands'', 1850 - Phytogeographical conditions of European Russia. * ''Ueber Die Geographische Der Herniaria-Arten in Russland'', 1865 - On the geography of

Herniaria ''Herniaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae known generally as ruptureworts. They are native to Eurasia and Africa but several species have been widely introduced to other continents. These are flat, mat-forming ann ...

located in Russia. * Plantas Caspio-Caucasicas, a Dre. G. Radde et A. Becker anno 1876, (1877)

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...

-Caucasus plants, of

Gustav Radde Gustav Ferdinand Richard Radde (27 November 1831 – 16 March 1903) was a German naturalist and Siberian explorer. Radde's warbler and several other species are named after him. Biography Radde was born in Danzig, the son of a schoolmaster. H ...

and A. Becker from 1876. * Plantas Sibiriae borealis ab A. Czekanowski et F. Mueller, annis 1874 et 1875 lectas, (1877) - Plants of northern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

from

Aleksander Czekanowski Aleksander Piotr Czekanowski, or Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Chekanovsky (, 24 February 1833 – 30 October 1876) was a Polish geologist and explorer of Siberia during his exile after participating in the January Uprising. He took part in and later le ...

and F. Mueller (1874–75). * Flora riparia Kolymensis, 1878.Google Books
(publications) The standard

botanical author abbreviation In botanical nomenclature, author citation is the way of citing the person or group of people who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the ''International Cod ...

Trautv. is applied to plants he described.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trautvetter, Ernst Rudolf Von 1809 births 1889 deaths Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Botanists active in Central Asia Botanists with author abbreviations Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Botanists from the Russian Empire People from Jelgava Pteridologists