Alwin Berger (28 August 1871 – 20 April 1931) was a German

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

best known for his contribution to the nomenclature of

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

plants, particularly agaves and

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

. Born in Germany he worked at the botanical gardens in Dresden and Frankfurt. From 1897 to 1914 he was curator of the

Giardini Botanici Hanbury The Giardini Botanici Hanbury, also known as Villa Hanbury, are major botanical gardens operated by the University of Genoa. They are located at Corso Montecarlo 43, Mortola Inferiore, several km west of Ventimiglia, Italy. History The gar ...

, the botanical gardens of Sir Thomas Hanbury at

La Mortola Mortola Inferiore, often known as La Mortola, is a frazione of the comune of Ventimiglia, in the province of Imperia, in Liguria, Italy. It lies on the road from Ventimiglia to the French border. It is home to the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, o ...

, near Ventimiglia in northwestern Italy, close to the border with France. After working in Germany from 1914 to 1919, Berger studied in the United States for three years, before spending his final years as director of the department of botany of the natural history museum in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

His main work, ''Die Agaven'', published in 1915, described 274 species of agave, divided into 3 subgenera, ''

Littaea ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for i ...

'', '' Euagave'' and ''

Manfreda ''Manfreda'' was a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Along with '' Polianthes'', members are commonly called tuberoses. The generic name honours 14th-century Italian writer Manfredus de Monte Imperiale. ...

''. He also recognised a new genus of cactus, ''

Roseocactus ''Ariocarpus'' is a small genus of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Cactaceae. The name comes from the ancient Greek "aria" (an oak type) and "carpos" (=fruit) because of the resemblance of the fruit of the two genus in acorn form. A ...

'', in 1925. The

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Bergerocactus ''Bergerocactus emoryi'' is a species of cactus, known commonly as the golden-spined cereus, golden snake cactus, velvet cactus or golden club cactus. It is a relatively small cactus, but it can form dense thickets or colonies, with the dense ye ...

'' ('' Cactaceae'') and '' Bergeranthus'' (''

Mesembryanthemaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large Family (biology), family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genus, genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies ...

'') are named in his honour.

Publications

The principal publications of Alwin Berger include: * ''Systematische Übersicht der kultivierten Kleinien''. Neudamm: Neumann, 1904/5.
''Florula Mortolensis. An enumeration of the plants growing wild at La Mortola''
Ventimiglia: Billi, 1905. * ''Proposed congratulatory address to Sir Thomas Hanbury ... of la Mortola, Ventimiglia : prepared for the celebration of his Seventy-fifth birthday, 21st June 1907''. .l. .n. 1907. * ''Sukkulente Euphorbien. Beschreibung und Anleitung zum bestimmen der kultivierten Arten, mit kurzen Angaben über die Kultur''. Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, 1907.
''Mesembrianthemen und Portulacaceen. Beschreibung und Anleitung zum Bestimmen der wichtigsten Arten, mit kurzen Angaben über die Kultur''
Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, 1908.
''Liliaceae - Asphodeloideae - Aloineae : Mit 817 Einzelbildern in 141 Figuren und 1 Tafel''
In: Adolf Engler, ''Das Pflanzenreich, regni vegetabilis conspectus'' IV 38 III. ii. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1908. * ''Einige neue afrikanische Sukkulenten''. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1910. * ''Stapelieen und Kleinien, einschliesslich einiger anderer Verwandter Sukkulenten. Beschreibung und Anleitung zum bestimmen der wichtigen Arten mit kurzer Angabe über die Kultur''. Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, 1910. *
''Hortus Mortolensis : enumeratio plantarum in horto Mortolensi cultarum: Alphabetical catalogue of plants growing in the garden of the late Sir T. Hanbury at La Mortola, Ventimiglia, Italy''
London: West, Newman, 1912.
''Die Agaven: Beiträge zu einer Monographie''
Jena: Verlag von Gustav Fischer, 1915. * ''A Taxonomic Review of Currants and Gooseberries''. Genova; N.Y., 1924. * ''Die Entwicklungslinien der Kakteen''. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1926. * ''Eine neue Aristolochia aus Bolivien''. Stuttgart: Württ. Naturaliensammlung, 1927. * ''Kakteen, Anleitung zur Kultur und Kenntnis der wichtigsten eingeführten Arten''. Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, 1929. * ''Crassulaceae''. Leipzig, 1930.

References

External links

Photo of Alwin Berger
from Genus ''Escobaria'' etc.

(in Italian)
Die Agaven (1915)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Alwin 1871 births 1931 deaths 20th-century German botanists People from Schleiz