Franz Xaver Heller (28 December 1778,

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

– 20 December 1840) was a German physician 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 ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, graduating in 1800 with doctorates in medicine and

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

. In 1803 he became an associate professor at Würzburg, and two years later was appointed a full professor of botany. In 1828 he was named

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 ...

of the university. During the same year, he became a corresponding member of the Medico-Botanical Society of London.Botanischer Garten der Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
V. Herbarium FX Heller for Flora Wirceburgensis He is best known as author of the ''Flora Wirceburgensis'' ("Flora of the

Grand Duchy of Würzburg The Grand Duchy of Würzburg (german: Großherzogtum Würzburg) was a German grand duchy A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duc ...

"), published in two parts (1810, 1811), with a supplement issued in 1815. After his death, his

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 ...

was passed on to botanist

August Schenk Joseph August Schenk (17 April 1815, in Hallein – 30 March 1891, in Leipzig) was an Austrian-born, German botanist and paleobotanist. In 1837 he obtained his medical doctorate from the University of Munich, followed by studies in botany at ...

(1815-1891). In 1824, the genus ''Helleria'' (family

Humiriaceae Humiriaceae (or, alternatively Houmiriaceae Juss.) is a family of evergreen flowering plants. It comprises 8 genera and 56 known species. The family is exclusively Neotropical, except one species found in tropical West Africa West Africa o ...

) was named in honor of him and his brother, Georg, by

Nees 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 des ...

and Martius.

Published works

* "Graminum in magno-ducatu Wirceburgensi tam sponte crescentium : quam cultorum enumeratio systematica", 1809. * "Flora Wirceburgensis, sive, Plantarum in Magno-Ducatu Wirceburgensi indigenarum enumeratio systematica", 1810–11. * "Supplementum Florae Wirceburgensis continens Plantarum genera : quaedam atque species in magno-ducatu Wirceburgensi recenter detecta", 1815.OCLC Classify
publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Franz Xaver 1778 births 1840 deaths Physicians from Würzburg University of Würzburg faculty University of Würzburg alumni 19th-century German botanists Scientists from Würzburg