Biography

German botanist Adolf Engler is noted for his prodigious taxonomic and phytogeographic work. With Karl Prantl he edited the series Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien (1887-1915, 1924). He also collected plants in many countries, and was an authority on the botany of tropical Africa.

Engler was born in Sagan, Prussia (now Zagań, Poland). He studied at the University of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), gaining his PhD in 1866. Afterwards, he worked as a teacher before being appointed as a curator at the Botanical Institute of Munich in 1871. In 1878 he accepted a professorship at the University of Kiel, where he remained until 1884. He then returned to Breslau as professor, moving to the University of Berlin in 1889. He remained in Berlin (at Dahlem from 1903), for the rest of his life, continuing to work after his official retirement in 1921. In Berlin, Engler oversaw the expansion and move of the museum and gardens to Dahlem, a few miles out of the city, in 1907.

Engler's early works included a revision of Saxifraga (1872) and a palaeobotanical tome, Versuch einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt, insbesondere der Florengebiete seit der Tertiärperiode (Towards a history of the development of the plant world, in particular the floristic regions since the Tertiary period, 1879-1882). Working under August W. Eichler, he also monographed the Aroids for Martius's Flora Brasiliensis, which was under Eichler's editorship from 1868-1887. Meanwhile, in 1881 Engler established the Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie for papers on systematics and plant geography. It is now published as Plant diversity and evolution: Phylogeny, biogeography, structure and function.

With Karl Prantl, Engler edited the series Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien (The Natural Plant Families, 1887-1915), and began to update the series in 1924. The enormous series attempts the detailed classification of plants, including algae. The Englerian system has been highly influential.

Engler also edited Das Pflanzenreich (The Plant Kingdom, 1900-1968). Produced in collaboration with many experts, this monographic series was intended to follow on from the de Candolles' Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis. Engler provided treatments of the Aroids and the Saxifraga genus. By 1937 the series had run to over 100 volumes. Another of the major works on which Engler served as co-editor (with Oscar Drude) was the plant geography series, Vegetation der Erde (1896).

Engler published many papers and monographs on the plant geography and flora of tropical Africa, and organised the major volume Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas in 1895. In 1905 he joined the British Association in visiting South Africa.

Among Engler's other long-term interests were the Araceae family, the Alps and economic botany in the German colonies of Namibia (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) and Cameroon. He travelled beyond Europe on seven occasions: to Algeria and Tunisia (1889); the Canary Islands (1901); southern and eastern Africa (1902 and 1905); India and Indonesia (1905-1906); Caucasia and Armenia (1912), Namibia (1913), Japan (1913) and North America (1913).

Engler was awarded the Linnean Medal in 1913 in recognition of his work, and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) established the Engler Medal in his honour in 1986. The journal of the Berlin-Dahelm Botanical Garden, Englera, is also named in his honour, as are many plant taxa, including Engleria and Englerella. A commemorative exhibition on Engler was held at the Botanisches Museum, Berlin, in 2000.

Source:
Anon, 1930, "Adolf Engler", Notizblatt des Königl. botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin, 11(101)
H.W. Lack, 2000, Botanisches Museum Berlin: Adolf Engler - Die Welt in einem Garten
A.B. Rendle, 1930, "Obituary. Adolf Engler", Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, 68: 375-377
B. Zepernick, 1989, "Adolf Englers aussereuropäische Reisen", Willdenowia,19(1): 13-26.

Biography

German botanist Adolf Engler is noted for his prodigious taxonomic and phytogeographic work. With Karl Prantl he edited the series Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien (1887-1915, 1924). He also collected plants in many countries, and was an authority on the botany of tropical Africa.

Engler was born in Sagan, Prussia (now Zagań, Poland). He studied at the University of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), gaining his PhD in 1866. Afterwards, he worked as a teacher before being appointed as a curator at the Botanical Institute of Munich in 1871. In 1878 he accepted a professorship at the University of Kiel, where he remained until 1884. He then returned to Breslau as professor, moving to the University of Berlin in 1889. He remained in Berlin (at Dahlem from 1903), for the rest of his life, continuing to work after his official retirement in 1921. In Berlin, Engler oversaw the expansion and move of the museum and gardens to Dahlem, a few miles out of the city, in 1907.

Engler's early works included a revision of Saxifraga (1872) and a palaeobotanical tome, Versuch einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt, insbesondere der Florengebiete seit der Tertiärperiode (Towards a history of the development of the plant world, in particular the floristic regions since the Tertiary period, 1879-1882). Working under August W. Eichler, he also monographed the Aroids for Martius's Flora Brasiliensis, which was under Eichler's editorship from 1868-1887. Meanwhile, in 1881 Engler established the Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie for papers on systematics and plant geography. It is now published as Plant diversity and evolution: Phylogeny, biogeography, structure and function.

With Karl Prantl, Engler edited the series Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien (The Natural Plant Families, 1887-1915), and began to update the series in 1924. The enormous series attempts the detailed classification of plants, including algae. The Englerian system has been highly influential.

Engler also edited Das Pflanzenreich (The Plant Kingdom, 1900-1968). Produced in collaboration with many experts, this monographic series was intended to follow on from the de Candolles' Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis. Engler provided treatments of the Aroids and the Saxifraga genus. By 1937 the series had run to over 100 volumes. Another of the major works on which Engler served as co-editor (with Oscar Drude) was the plant geography series, Vegetation der Erde (1896).

Engler published many papers and monographs on the plant geography and flora of tropical Africa, and organised the major volume Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas in 1895. In 1905 he joined the British Association in visiting South Africa.

Among Engler's other long-term interests were the Araceae family, the Alps and economic botany in the German colonies of Namibia (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) and Cameroon. He travelled beyond Europe on seven occasions: to Algeria and Tunisia (1889); the Canary Islands (1901); southern and eastern Africa (1902 and 1905); India and Indonesia (1905-1906); Caucasia and Armenia (1912), Namibia (1913), Japan (1913) and North America (1913).

Engler was awarded the Linnean Medal in 1913 in recognition of his work, and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) established the Engler Medal in his honour in 1986. The journal of the Berlin-Dahelm Botanical Garden, Englera, is also named in his honour, as are many plant taxa, including Engleria and Englerella. A commemorative exhibition on Engler was held at the Botanisches Museum, Berlin, in 2000.

Source:
Anon, 1930, "Adolf Engler", Notizblatt des Königl. botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin, 11(101)
H.W. Lack, 2000, Botanisches Museum Berlin: Adolf Engler - Die Welt in einem Garten
A.B. Rendle, 1930, "Obituary. Adolf Engler", Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, 68: 375-377
B. Zepernick, 1989, "Adolf Englers aussereuropäische Reisen", Willdenowia,19(1): 13-26.