Josef Jakob Halda (born 7 December 1943) is a Czech botanist who worked at the Institute of Botany of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. He became a member of the Czech Botanical Society in 1987. He studied the flora of the Czech Republic and made a number of expeditions to Mexico. As a scientist, he studied the taxonomy of genera ''
Paeonia'', ''
Daphne
Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
There are several versions of the myth in whi ...
'' and ''
Haworthia
''Haworthia'' is a large genus of small succulent plants endemic to Southern Africa
(Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini and South Africa).
Like the aloes, they are members of the subfamily Asphodeloideae and they generally resemble mi ...
''. He also published popular books such as ''The genus Primula in cultivation and the wild'', which was illustrated by his wife Jarmila Haldová. He proposed new names and combinations such as ''Begonia jarmilae'' and ''Conophytum jarmilae'' (after his wife), ''Gentiana arethusae'' subsp. ''delicatula''
(C.Marquand) Halda and ×''Jankaendron''
Halda.
Later, he collected seeds of primarily
alpine plants
Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial grasses, ...
across Europe and Asia, which he sold to gardeners throughout the world.
Publications
Science articles
* ''Some taxonomic problems in the genus Daphne L.II'' (1996). Acta Musei Richnoviensis 6 (3)
* ''New descriptions and combinations Trillium ×crockeranum '' (1996), with L. Horáček. Acta Musei Richnoviensis 6 (3)
* ''Systematic treatment of the Genus Paeonia L. with some nomenclatural changes'' (1997). Acta Musei Richnoviensis 4 (2)
* ''Synopsis of the Genus Haworthia Duval, with some nomenclatural changes'' (1997). Acta Musei Richnoviensis 4 (2)
* ''Dwarf succulent saxifragas (section Porphyrion Engler & Irmscher)'' (1997). Acta Musei Richnoviensis 4 (2)
Popular books
* ''The genus Primula in cultivation and the wild'' (1992). Tethys Books
* ''The Genus Gentiana'' (1996). Sen Dobre
* ''The Genus Paeonia'' (2004) with J.W. Waddick. Timber Press
References
Czech botanists
1943 births
Botanists with author abbreviations
Living people
{{CzechRepublic-botanist-stub