August Wilhelm Stiehler (6 August 1797, Neumarkt – May 1878,

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

) was a German government official and

paleobotanist Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...

. He studied law at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, and for many years worked as a civil servant in the town of

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

. During the last twenty years of his life he resided in Quedlinburg.Stiehler, August Wilhelm
Deutsche Biographie He is remembered for his paleobotanical research in the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

of Germany. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

he circumscribed the extinct genera ''

Weichselia ''Weichselia'' is an extinct genus of fern. They were abundant from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

and

Leopold von Buch Christian Leopold von Buch (26 April 1774 – 4 March 1853), usually cited as Leopold von Buch, was a German geologist and paleontologist born in Stolpe an der Oder (now a part of Angermünde, Brandenburg) and is remembered as one of the most im ...

. His collection of fossils were acquired by the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

. The genus ''Stiehleria'' (fossil

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

) commemorates his name.BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications

Selected works

* ''Beitrage zur Kenntniss der vorweltlichen Flora des Kreidegebirges im Harze'', Palaeontographica (1846–1933) Band 05 Lieferung 3 (1857), p. 71 - 80. – Contribution to the knowledge of ancient flora from the chalk mountains in the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

. * ''Allgemeine Bemerkungen über das Kreidegebirge zu Blankenburg und in der Grafschaft Wernigerode'', (1858) – General comments on the chalk mountains of

Blankenburg Blankenburg may refer to: Places * Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt * Blankenburg Castle (Harz), the castle in Blankenburg am Harz (see above) * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt dis ...

and in the county of Wernigerode. * ''Synopsis Der Pflanzenkunde Der Vorwelt'', Volume 1 (1861) – Synopsis of botany of the ancient world. * "Palaeophytologiae statum recentem exemplo Monocotyledonearum et Dicotyledonearum Angiospermarum Gamopetalarum. 1. Pars: Monocotyledoneae in statu fossili (in universum consideratae)", (1869).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiehler, August Wilhelm 1797 births 1878 deaths People from Merseburg Leipzig University alumni Paleobotanists 19th-century German botanists