Johan Petter Norrlin (6 September 1842 in Hollola – 7 January 1917 in Helsinki) was a Finnish

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 ...

and a professor of botany at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

from 1879 to 1903. He was a pioneer of plant geography in Finland, and is also well known for his work on

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of the

apomictic In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttin ...

taxa of the plant genera '' Hieracium'' and '' Pilosella''.

Early life and education

Johan Petter Norrlin was born on 6 September 1842 in Hollola, Finland. Norrlin's parents were Nils Nathanael Norrlin and Fredrika Charlotta Lang. He became a student in 1862 at Porvoo high school, and graduated in 1866 as a forester from Evo Forestry College. Norrlin then studied at the

. It was around this time that he met

Edvard August Vainio Edvard August Vainio (born Edvard Lang; 5 August 185314 May 1929) was a Finnish lichenology, lichenologist. His early works on the lichens of Lapland (Finland), Lapland, his three-volume monograph on the lichen genus ''Cladonia'', and, in parti ...

(then named Edvard Lang), the neighbour's son, who was nearly 11 years younger. Young Edvard Lang often accompanied Norrlin on his botanical excursions around

Lake Vesijärvi A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...

in the summers of 1868 and 1869, helping him collect samples of plants and cryptogams (

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.floristics; Vainio would later become a world-renowned lichenologist. In 1873, Norrlin married Lang's sister. Johan Peter Norrlin

Norrlin graduated with a bachelor's and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in philosophy in 1869 and a licentiate and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in philosophy in 1879. This gave him the qualifications to become a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

. Norrlin was an associate professor at the University of Helsinki from 1879 to 1903. Norrlin was William Nylander's foremost student, and he became the first expert on Finnish

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.plant geographer Phytogeography (from Greek language, Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographi ...

and '' Hieracium'' researcher. While travelling in different parts of Finland and

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

, he discovered a large number of interesting or new species that would be formally described by Nylander. Together with Nylander, he published ''Herbarium lichenum Fenniae'' (1875–1882). The works ''Bidrag till sydöstra Tavastlands Flora'' and ''Flora Kareliae Onegensis I'' (1871) are examples of Finnish plant geography research in terms of plant

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

. Norrlin was instrumental in developing the biogeographic divisions of East

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...

. He showed that Aunus,

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

and the

Kola Peninsula sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк , image_name= Kola peninsula.png , image_caption= Kola Peninsula as a part of Murmansk Oblast , image_size= 300px , image_alt= , map_image= Murmansk in Russia.svg , map_caption = Location of Murmansk Oblas ...

belong to the Finnish natural science area (even though they are geographically in Russia), a conclusion that was later verified with

geological survey A geological survey is the systematic investigation of the geology beneath a given piece of ground for the purpose of creating a geological map or model. Geological surveying employs techniques from the traditional walk-over survey, studying outc ...

s. He was named honorary member of the Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica in 1912.

Legacy

Norrlin developed a system called the Norrlin Scale to classify plant prevalence. In this ten-grade scale, the first seven grades (1, 2 = sparse; 3, 4 = scattered; 5, 6, 7 = abundant/plenty) are based on distances (=density) between the individuals of each species, while the upper three grades (8–10) relate to the admixture of other species, overall between 7.5 species (=grade 8) and one species (=grade 10). According to Finnish conservationist and teacher Reino Kalliola, Norrlin's work laid the foundation for future studies of Finnish phytogeography. His ideas were used in the later work of

Aimo Kaarlo Cajander Aimo Kaarlo Cajander (4 April 1879 – 21 January 1943) was the Prime Minister of Finland up to the Winter War. Cajander was born in Uusikaupunki, and became a botanist, a professor of forestry 1911–34; director-general for Finland's Fore ...

, and by phytogeographers of future generations. The

International Plant Names Index 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 inclu ...

lists 638 species that were named by Norrlin. The botanical periodical ''Norrlinia'' is named after Norrlin. It is a publication series of the Botanical Museum of the

Finnish Museum of Natural History The Finnish Museum of Natural History ( fi, Luonnontieteellinen keskusmuseo, sv, Naturhistoriska centralmuseet), established in 1988, is a research institution under the University of Helsinki in Finland, based in Helsinki, Finland. It is a natur ...

at the University of Helsinki. Norrlin is also honoured in the lichen genus name '' Norrlinia'' , the lichen species '' Physcia norrlinii'' , '' Porina norrlinii'' , and '' Roesleria norrlinii'' , and the plant '' Hieracium norrlinii'' .

Selected publications

*1870. Bidrag till Sydöstra Tavastlands flora (Contribuciones a la flora del sudeste Häme). 123 pp. *1875. Flora Kareliae onegensis: Lichenes. 46 pp. *1891. Minnesord öfver Sextus Otto Lindberg. Acta Societatis scientiarum Fennicae. Ed. Societas scientiarum Fennicae. 36 pp. *1895. Pilosellæ boreales: præcipue floræ fennicæ novæ. Volume
12
y 14 de Acta Societatis pro fauna et flora Fennica. 83 pp. *1906
Suomen keltanot.
154 pp. (Finnish language) *1912. Nya nordiska Hieracia beskrifna af J. P. Norrlin *1923. Lectio praecursoria. Volumen 23 de Acta forestalia Fennica. *1913. Minnesord öfver professor William Nylander, af J. P. Norrlin. Volumen 44 de Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae. Ed. Finska litteratursällskapets tryckeri. 43 pp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norrlin, Johan Petter 1842 births 1917 deaths Scientists from the Grand Duchy of Finland Botanists from the Russian Empire 19th-century Finnish botanists Finnish taxonomists Academic staff of the University of Helsinki 20th-century Finnish botanists University of Helsinki alumni People from Hollola