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Suksdorf, Wilhelm Nikolaus (1850-1932)

Date Updated: 19 April 2013

Herbarium
Natural History Museum (BM)
Collection
Plant Collectors
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Contributor
Natural History Museum (BM)
First name(s)
Wilhelm Nikolaus
Last name
Suksdorf
Initials
W.N.
Life Dates
1850 - 1932
Collecting Dates
1880 - 1927
Specification
Plant collector
Groups collected
Algae Bryophytes Fungi Pteridophytes Spermatophytes
Organisation(s)
WS (main), A, B, BM, BPI, BR, BUF, C, CAS, CM, CORD, CUP, DAO, DAOM, DBN, DPU (currently NY), DS, E, F, FH, G, GB, GH, GOET, K, L, LD, LE, M, MANCH, MICH, MIN, MO, MPU, MSC, MTJB (currently MT), NA, NCU, NY, NYS, ORE, OSC, P, PH, RMS, UC, US, VT, WRSL, WSP, WTU
Countries
North American region: United States
Associate(s)
Cooke, William Bridge (1908-) (distributed material)
Gray, Asa (1810-1888)
Petrak, Franz (1886-1973) (specimens to)
Shaw, Charles Gardner (1917-1998) (distributed material)
Biography
Born in Kiel, Germany, Suksdorf emigrated with his family to Iowa (1858). He later moved to the west coast of the United States (1874) where he began a science course at the University of California (1876). He became an amateur field botanist who collected for professionals, including Asa Gray, being paid by the specimen. Though little-known during his life, Suksdorf collected some 150,000 specimens from the western United States and corresponded with many of the important botanists of the time. Towards the end of his active career he was a special fellow at the herbarium of Washington State University. He died in a railroad accident near his home in Washington state. Many years after his death, his duplicate mycological material was distributed by C.G. Shaw and W.B. Cooke (1953) under the name Reliquiae Suksdorfia: Fungi. Many taxa are named after him including the genus Suksdorfia A.Gray (Saxifragaceae ) and Mimulus suksdorfii A. Gray. Material at BM consists of both phanerogams and cryptogams, and was mostly purchased during the period 1882 to 1925.
References
Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E., Authors Pl. Names (1992): 624; Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. S (1986): 974;

Date Updated: 19 April 2013

Herbarium
Natural History Museum (BM)
Collection
Plant Collectors
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Contributor
Natural History Museum (BM)
First name(s)
Wilhelm Nikolaus
Last name
Suksdorf
Initials
W.N.
Life Dates
1850 - 1932
Collecting Dates
1880 - 1927
Specification
Plant collector
Groups collected
Algae Bryophytes Fungi Pteridophytes Spermatophytes
Organisation(s)
WS (main), A, B, BM, BPI, BR, BUF, C, CAS, CM, CORD, CUP, DAO, DAOM, DBN, DPU (currently NY), DS, E, F, FH, G, GB, GH, GOET, K, L, LD, LE, M, MANCH, MICH, MIN, MO, MPU, MSC, MTJB (currently MT), NA, NCU, NY, NYS, ORE, OSC, P, PH, RMS, UC, US, VT, WRSL, WSP, WTU
Countries
North American region: United States
Associate(s)
Cooke, William Bridge (1908-) (distributed material)
Gray, Asa (1810-1888)
Petrak, Franz (1886-1973) (specimens to)
Shaw, Charles Gardner (1917-1998) (distributed material)
Biography
Born in Kiel, Germany, Suksdorf emigrated with his family to Iowa (1858). He later moved to the west coast of the United States (1874) where he began a science course at the University of California (1876). He became an amateur field botanist who collected for professionals, including Asa Gray, being paid by the specimen. Though little-known during his life, Suksdorf collected some 150,000 specimens from the western United States and corresponded with many of the important botanists of the time. Towards the end of his active career he was a special fellow at the herbarium of Washington State University. He died in a railroad accident near his home in Washington state. Many years after his death, his duplicate mycological material was distributed by C.G. Shaw and W.B. Cooke (1953) under the name Reliquiae Suksdorfia: Fungi. Many taxa are named after him including the genus Suksdorfia A.Gray (Saxifragaceae ) and Mimulus suksdorfii A. Gray. Material at BM consists of both phanerogams and cryptogams, and was mostly purchased during the period 1882 to 1925.
References
Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E., Authors Pl. Names (1992): 624; Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. S (1986): 974;
Suksdorf, Wilhelm Nikolaus (1850-1932)
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