Henrik einrichFranz Alexander Baron von Eggers (4 December 1844 – 1903), was a Danish professional soldier 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 ...

Life

After studies at the gymnasium in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

he entered the Danish army as

subaltern Subaltern may refer to: *Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power * Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer * Subalternation, going from a univer ...

in 1864 and fought in the Danish-German war. At the end of 1864 he joined the Imperial Mexican Volunteer Corps and fell into captivity of the Mexican Republicans at the end of the month-long siege of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. He was freed in 1867, rejoined the Danish army as lieutenant and had himself posted in the Danish Antilles, where he served until his retirement, as captain, in 1885. In 1873 he married Mathilde Camilla Stakemann. His retirement from the army marked the beginning of his career as botanist. He studied and published the flora of

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

, St. John, St. Thomas, Water Island and

Vieques Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...

. He made numerous trips and collected extensively on virtually all the islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles:

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

in 1880,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

in 1881 and 1883,

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

, St. Kitts, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

in 1887,

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

in 1888–89 and

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

and

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

in 1889–90. He moved to

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

in 1891 where he stayed until 1897 making numerous collections. He had a hacienda at El Recreo, in the vicinity of San Vicente in

Manabí province Manabí () is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Portoviejo. The province is named after the Manabí people. Demographics Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: *Mestizo 66.7% * Montubio 19.2% * Afro-Ecuadorian 6.0% *White 7 ...

. The plant genus ''Eggersia'' was named for him by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...

. The species ''Eggersia buxifolia'' (

Hook.f. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

) is synonymous with ''

Neea ''Neea'' is a genus of plants in family Nyctaginaceae from the Caribbean region, Central and South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small ...

buxifolia'' (Hook.f.) Heimerl.IPNI
basionym of: ''Nyctaginaceae Neea buxifolia'' (Hook.f.) Heimerl Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 21(5): 633. 1896 (12 May 1896)

Species named for Eggers

*'' Strumigenys eggersi'' – Eggers' dacetine ant * '' Agave eggersiana'' – St. Croix century plant * ''

Erythrina eggersii ''Erythrina eggersii'' is a vine or tree in the family Fabaceae which is commonly known as cock's-spur, espuelo de gallo, or pinon espinoso. It is native to Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands (Jost Van Dyke) and the U.S. Virgin Islands, w ...

Notes

* ''

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

'' is a title, not a first or middle name.

References

*Urban, Ignaz. ''Notae biographicae,'' Symb. Antill. 3:40,1900.
Short biography at MOBOT
*[http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_family=&find_genus=&find_species=eggersii&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearch Species named for Eggers at IPNI]

Bibliography

Publications by Baron Eggers on WorldCat

External links

''The Flora of St. Croix and the Virgin Islands'' by Eggers at the Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eggers, Henrik Franz Alexander 1844 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Danish botanists Botanists active in South America Botanists active in the Caribbean Danish expatriates in Mexico