Friedrich Georg Christoph Alefeld (21 October 1820 – 28 April 1872) was a

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 ...

, author, and medical practitioner. Born in

Weiterstadt Weiterstadt () is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated directly northwest of Darmstadt. Twin towns – sister cities Weiterstadt is Sister city, twinned with: * Bagno a Ripoli, Italy * Kiens, Italy * Verneui ...

-Gräfenhausen, Grand Duchy of Hesse; he described a number of plant species in his published works, taking a particular interest in

legumes A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

and

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

. He attempted to give a systematic treatment of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

crops in one work, in addition to writing treatises on herbal baths and cultivated plants of potential usefulness. A number of his essays appeared in the botanical literature of the day. His works include: * Articles in ''Oesterreichische Botanische Zeitschrift'' (Oesterr. Bot. Z.) The Austrian Botanical Magazine. * ''Landwirthschaftliche flora: oder Die nutzbaren kultivirten Garten- und Feldgewächse Mitteleuropa's in allen ihren wilden und Kulturvarietäten für Landwirthe, Gärtner, Gartenfreunde und Botaniker insbesondere für landwirthschaftliche Lehranstalten''. Berlin, Wiegandt & Hempel, 1866.Landwirthschaftliche flora
/ref> * ''Grundzüge der Phytobalneologie; oder, Der Lehre von den Kräuter-Bädern''. Neuwied, Heuser, 1863. {"Outline of phytobalneology or the theory of herbal baths"). * ''Die Bienen-Flora Deutschlands und der Schweiz''. Neuwied, Heuser, 1863. ("The bee-flora in Germany and Switzerland"); A work that describes the plants of the region that are pollinated by

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

IPNI The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It incl ...

gives over 300 plants names with Alefeld as the author of the accepted descriptions. Many of these remain current. He died at

Ober-Ramstadt Ober-Ramstadt is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hessen, Germany. It is situated 9 km southeast of Darmstadt. As of 2020, its population was 15,127. Geography Location Ober-Ramstadt is situated 9 km away from Darmstadt ...

References

* Article "Alefeld, Friedrich":ADB, Volume 1, p 333
ADB (German Language)
*

External links

* 1820 births 1872 deaths People from Darmstadt-Dieburg Botanists with author abbreviations German botanical writers People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse {{Germany-botanist-stub