Julius von Flotow; full name- Julius Christian Gottlieb Ulrich Gustav Georg Adam Ernst Friedrich von Flotow (9 March 1788 – 15 August 1856) was a German military officer and 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 ...

specialized in

lichenology Lichenology is the branch of mycology that studies the lichens, symbiotic organisms made up of an intimate symbiotic association of a microscopic alga (or a cyanobacterium) with a filamentous fungus. Study of lichens draws knowledge from several ...

and

bryology Bryology (from Greek , a moss, a liverwort) is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Bryologists are people who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or ...

. Von Flotow was born in the village of Pitzerwitz ( Pstrowice in Polish) in the region of

Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...

. In 1813, he suffered a serious war injury at the Battle of Lützen, from which he never fully recovered and which led to a partial paralysis of his right arm. During a military campaign in France (1819), he took the opportunity to study

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Ardennes Mountains The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

. In 1850 he wrote of how his acquisition of a high-quality Schiek

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

enhanced his studies. In an 1851 study of the

crustose Crustose is a habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the substrates at all points. ''Crustose'' is found on rocks ...

lichen '' Rimularia gibbosa'', he introduced the term . In 1832 he took an early retirement from the military and worked as a private scholar in Hirschberg. Among his written works are the following: * ''Reisebericht über eine Excursion nach einem Theile des südöstlichen Riesengebirges'' (1836) * ''Über Haematococcus Pluvialis'' (1844) * ''Lichenes Florae Silesiae'' (1849–1850) Von Flotow was a member of several learned societies, notably the

Leopoldina Leopoldina may refer to: * Colônia Leopoldina, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Alagoa * Leopoldina, Minas Gerais, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais * Maria Leopoldina of Austria (1797-1826), consort of emperor Pedro I ...

and the

Senckenberg Nature Research Society The Senckenberg Nature Research Society (german: link=no, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, until 2008 ''Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft'') is a German scholarly society with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Overview ...

. He was a recipient of the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

and was awarded an honorary degree from the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1856, a week before his death. The genus ''Flotovia'' from the botanical family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

is named in his honor.

References

University of Gottingen, Search the Index Collectorum

translated biography @ Brockhaus Encyclopedic Dictionary German mycologists 1788 births 1856 deaths German lichenologists Recipients of the Iron Cross (1813) {{Germany-biologist-stub

See also

References