Johannes Ludwig Emil Robert von Hanstein (15 May 1822 – 27 August 1880) was a German botanist who was a native of

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

. He attended classes at the ''Gärtnerlehranstalt'' (Institute of

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

) in

, and later studied sciences in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1848. In 1855 he was a lecturer of botany at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

, and six years later became

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the royal herbarium. In 1865 he was appointed professor of botany at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

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 ...

. Hanstein is remembered for studies in

plant anatomy Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal structure of plants. Originally it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th century plant ...

and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

. In 1868 he introduced the " histogen theory" to explain shoot apex behaviour in plants. With his close friend,

Nathanael Pringsheim Nathanael Pringsheim (30 November 1823 – 6 October 1894) was a German botanist. Biography Nathanael Pringsheim was born at Landsberg, Prussian Silesia, and studied at the universities of Breslau, Leipzig, and Berlin successively. He graduat ...

(1823–1894), he conducted pioneer research on the fertilization process in

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s. The plant genus '' Hansteinia'' of the family

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in tem ...

is named after him.

Gallery

File:Capsella bursa-pastoris, kiembol (Hanstein).jpg, ''

Capsella bursa-pastoris ''Capsella bursa-pastoris'', known as shepherd's purse because of its triangular flat fruits, which are purse-like, is a small annual and ruderal flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to eastern Europe and Asia minor, ...

'' drawing by Johannes von Hanstein File:Asteranthera ovata (3163923562).jpg, '' Asteranthera ovata '', (Cav.) Hanst. in the

Puyehue National Park Puyehue National Park () is located in the Andes mountain range, in Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions of Chile formerly referred to as the 10th region. The park boast 220,000 acres of natural thermal springs, volcanoes, and evergreen forests, afte ...

Selected publications

* ''Untersuchungen über den Bau und die Entwickelung der Baumrinde'' (Studies on the construction and development of

tree bark Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines, and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and cons ...

) (1853). * ''Die Milchsaftgefässe und die verwandten Organe der Rinde'', (1864). * ''Die Scheitelzellgruppe im Vegetationspunkt der Phanerogamen'' (The

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

cell group in the growth-point of

phanerogam A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

s), (1869). * ''Die Entwicklung des Keimes der Monokotylen und Dikotylen'' (Development involving germination of monocotyls and

dicot The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...

s), (1870). He was also an editor of the journal ''Botanische Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Morphologie und Physiologie'' (Botanical treatises from the areas of morphology and physiology).Botanische abhandlungen aus dem Gebiet der Morphologie und ..., Volume 4
edited by Johannes Ludwig Emil Robert von Hanstein Example : * With Ernst Pfitzer. ''Untersuchungen über Bau und Entwicklung der Bacillariaceen (Diatomaceen)'', (1871)
Read online

References

* Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia, including: *
NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie
(biography) *

4. Auflage. Band 8, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1885–1892, S. 149–150. Scientists from Potsdam 1822 births 1880 deaths University of Bonn faculty 19th-century German botanists {{Germany-botanist-stub