Dr. Asuman Baytop (27 March 1920 - 18 February 2015) was a Turkish

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 ...

, plant collector, pharmacologist, and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

known for her research regarding the medicinal properties of the

flora of Turkey about 9300 species of vascular plant were known to grow in Turkey. By comparison, Europe as a whole contains only about 24% more species (about 11500), despite having thirteen times the area. The most important reasons for the high plant biodi ...

. In 1964, she founded the Department of Pharmaceutical Botany at

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

, and established the department's

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

, to which she contributed over 23,000 specimens. She is also noted for describing several species of

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain undergro ...

, and the species '' Allium baytopiorum'' and ''

Colchicum baytopiorum ''Colchicum baytopiorum'' is a plant species native to western Turkey and to the Greece, Greek island of Rhodes (although possibly extinct there). It has small, bright pink-purple flowers measuring 4 cm (1.5") across. It is unusual in the ...

'' are named in her honor. She was married to fellow botanist Turhan Baytop.

References

1920 births 2015 deaths Turkish botanists Women botanists Istanbul University faculty {{Turkey-botanist-stub