Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (20 February 1809, in Jelgava – 24 January 1889, in St. Petersburg), was a Baltic 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 ...

, specialising in the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

and

central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. He was the son of Ernst Christian Johann von Trautvetter (1780-1859), Professor of Philosophy.Geni
(genealogy) He studied medicine and

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

s at the University of Dorpat. From 1829 to 1831, he conducted botanical field trips throughout Livonia, returning to Jelgava in 1831 as a private instructor.JSTOR Global Plants
(biography) In 1833 he began work as an assistant at the botanical garden in Dorpat, two years later, performing similar duties at the botanical garden in St. Petersburg. In 1838 he relocated to

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

as a professor of botany and director of the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. During his many years in Kiev, he served as

university 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, t ...

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

from 1847 to 1859. Later in his career, he returned to the botanical garden in St. Petersburg as an administrator and director. Here, he was tasked with publishing an account of the garden's history. He is honoured in the name of the

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

, ''Acer trautvetteri'' (Trautvetter's Maple), native to the Caucasus, and the genus ''

Trautvetteria ''Trautvetteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family. Today it is often considered a monotypic genus, containing only one species, ''Trautvetteria caroliniensis'', which is known by the common names Carolina bugbane, false bug ...

''.

Selected works

Among his numerous writings were treatises on the genera ''

Echinops ''Echinops'' is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They have spiny foliage and produce blue or white spherical flower heads. They are native to Europe, east to central As ...

'' and ''

Trifolium Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus h ...

''. The following are a few of his principal publications: * ''Ueber die Nebenblätter: Eine naturwissenschaftliche Abhandlung'', 1831 Trautvetter's first publication, a work on plant stipules. * ''Grundriss einer Geschichte der Botanik in bezug auf Russland'', 1837 - Outline on the history of Russian botany as a reference. * Plantarum imagines et descriptiones floram russicam illustrantes, 1844 * ''Die pflanzengeographischen Verhältnisse des Europäischen Russlands'', 1850 - Phytogeographical conditions of European Russia. * ''Ueber Die Geographische Der Herniaria-Arten in Russland'', 1865 - On the geography of Herniaria located in Russia. * Plantas Caspio-Caucasicas, a Dre. G. Radde et A. Becker anno 1876, (1877)

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

-Caucasus plants, of Gustav Radde and A. Becker from 1876. * Plantas Sibiriae borealis ab A. Czekanowski et F. Mueller, annis 1874 et 1875 lectas, (1877) - Plants of northern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

from

Aleksander Czekanowski Aleksander Piotr Czekanowski, or Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Chekanovsky (russian: Александр Лаврентьевич Чекановский, 24 February 1833 – 30 October 1876) was a Polish geologist and explorer of Siberia during his exile ...

and F. Mueller (1874–75). * Flora riparia Kolymensis, 1878.Google Books
(publications) The standard

botanical author abbreviation In botanical nomenclature, author citation is the way of citing the person or group of people who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the ''International Cod ...

Trautv. is applied to plants he described.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trautvetter, Ernst Rudolf Von 1809 births 1889 deaths Baltic-German people Botanists active in Central Asia Botanists with author abbreviations Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences 19th-century German botanists German untitled nobility People from Jelgava Pteridologists