German botanist from Berlin who trained at Jena and Berlin, specialising in fungi. In 1921 he was employed by the Botanical Museum, Berlin-Dahlem and began to sudy flowering plants under the direction of E.F. Gilg. He collected in South America (1923, 1927, 1932) and began an interest in cacti and succulents that would last the remainder of his career; he was a founder member of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study (IOS). Erich Werdermann was later appointed director of the Botanic Garden and Museum (1955-1958). He made a collecting visit to South-West Africa (Namibia) and South Africa after his formal retirement (1958) with H.-D. Oberdieck as his assistant and in the company of the micropalaentologist, Dr F. Thiergart. On the return journey he died shortly after the ship had returned to Bremen. The genera Werdermannia O.E. Schulz and Neowerdermannia Frič were named after him, in addition to many species based mainly on his South American collections. Part of his original material deposited at B is still extant, despite the destruction of the Berlin Herbarium during the Second World War.