Curt Backeberg (2 August 1894 in
Lüneburg
Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...
, Germany – 14 January 1966
) was a German
horticulturist
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
especially known for the collection and classification of
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 ...
.
Biography
He travelled extensively through Central and South America, and published a number of books on cacti, including the six-volume, 4,000-page ''Die Cactaceae'', 1958–1962, and the ''Kakteenlexikon'', first appearing in 1966 and updated posthumously.
Although he collected and described many new species and defined a number of new genera, much of his work was based on faulty assumptions about the evolution of cacti and was too focused on geographic distribution; many of his genera have since been reorganized or abandoned. The botanist
David Hunt is quoted as saying that he "left a trail of nomenclatural chaos that will probably vex cactus taxonomists for centuries."
[, p. 98] Nevertheless, his observations regarding the subtle variations among cacti have proven useful for hobbyists, who continue to use many cactus names proposed or upheld in his works.
In 1954, the Mexican botanist
Helia Bravo Hollis
Helia Bravo Hollis (30 September 1901 – 26 September 2001) was a Mexican botanist who did research in the Faculty of Science at UNAM.
Background and studies
Helia Bravo Hollis was born and raised in Mixcoac
Mixcoac is an area of southe ...
described a new genus and named it ''
Backebergia
''Pachycereus'' is a genus of 9–12 species of large cactus, cacti native to Mexico and just into southern Arizona, United States. They form large shrubs or small trees up to 15 m tall, with stout stems up to 1 m in diameter. ''Pachycereus'' co ...
'' in honor of Curt Backeberg.
Curt Backeberg was struck by a heart attack and died on 14 January 1966.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Backebergia
''Pachycereus'' is a genus of 9–12 species of large cactus, cacti native to Mexico and just into southern Arizona, United States. They form large shrubs or small trees up to 15 m tall, with stout stems up to 1 m in diameter. ''Pachycereus'' co ...
References
20th-century German botanists
Botanists active in Central America
Botanists active in South America
1894 births
1966 deaths
People from Lüneburg
{{Germany-botanist-stub