Carl Traugott Beilschmied (19 October 1793 in Langenöls – 6 May 1848 in Herrnstadt) was a German

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

and

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 ...

, known for his research in

phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

. Prior to 1820, he trained and worked in pharmacies in

Beuthen Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capita ...

, Breslau and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He then studied at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, where he came under the influence of

Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He de ...

. In 1822 he began work as a provisor at a pharmacy in Ohlau, becoming its manager in 1826. In 1837 he received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, and during the following year, became a member of the ''

Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

''. 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 described several botanical subfamilies. The genus ''

Beilschmiedia ''Beilschmiedia'' is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, N ...

'' was named in his honour by Nees von Esenbeck.

Published works

In 1834 he published a German translation of

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

's ''Nixus plantarum'', titled
''Nixus plantarum. Die Stämme des Gewächsreiches''
Other noted works associated with Beilschmied are: * ''Ueber einige bei pflanzengeographischen Vergleichungen zu berücksichtigende Punkte, in Anwendung auf die Flora Schlesiens'', 1829 – On some phytogeographical comparison points in regards to

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

n flora. * ''Pflanzengeographie, nach Alexander von Humboldt's werke ueber die geographische Vertheilhung der Gewächse'', 1831 – Plant geography, according to

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 ...

's works about the geographical Vertheilhung of plants. * ''Die geographischen und historischen verhältnisse der eichen- und der birken-familie in Italy'' (with

Joakim Frederik Schouw Joakim Frederik Schouw (7 February 1789 – 28 April 1852) was a Danish lawyer, botanist and politician. From 1821, professor in botany at the University of Copenhagen — first extraordinary professor, but after the death of J.W. Hornemann in 1 ...

), 1850 – The geographical and historical conditions of the

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

families in Italy.HathiTrust Digital Library
(published works)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beilschmied, Carl Traugott 1793 births 1848 deaths People from Lubań County University of Bonn alumni 19th-century German botanists German phytogeographers