Justus Carl Hasskarl (6 December 1811 – 5 January 1894) was a German explorer and botanist specializing in Pteridophytes, Bryophytes and Spermatophytes. He was co-founder of the Society of Natural Curiosities of India, in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and spent his time researching

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

for years.

Biography

Justus Carl Hasskarl was born in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

in the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

. In his earlier life he studied at a

plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

in Poppelsdorf in 1827. And later in 1834 he studied Natural History while at the same time, prepared himself for an expedition to the tropics. In 1836, he traveled to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and tried to make a living through his knowledge in Physics and Medicine, with little success. Subsequently, he sent a request to the Governor general to work in 's Lands Plantentuin and a year later he was appointed as assistant curator. With director

Johannes Elias Teijsmann Johannes Elias Teijsmann (1 June 1808 – 22 June 1882) was a biologist, botanist and plant collector. He was born in Arnhem, The Netherlands. His surname is sometimes spelled ''Teysmann'', although he himself spelled it ''Teijsmann''. Teijsmann t ...

, they rearranged their crops to taxonomic families, which would result in the displacement of many specimens in the botanical garden. Together they organized expeditions to various parts of modern Indonesia and expand the number of plants collection in the Botanic Garden. Hasskarl also proposed starting a library (Bibliotheca Bogoriensis) which was opened in 1842 and Herbarium Bogoriense in 1844. In 1852, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

government sent him to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

and in early 1853, Justus made an expedition to the interior of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and even reaching the eastern border of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...

, where he gathered

Cinchona ''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...

trees for Malaria treatment. In 1854 he sent his collections of seeds and specimens back to the Netherlands and introduced Cinchona trees to

, the extract of the tree would later be used to make

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

. However, due to his worsening health he had to return to Netherlands in 1856. Later he participated in examining and describe the

Commelinaceae Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 kn ...

Georg August Schweinfurth Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa. Life and explorations He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was edu ...

's Abyssinian plant collections and also worked on several plant families, such as ''

Cyathea junghuhniana ''Alsophila junghuhniana'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Cyathea junghuhniana'', is a species of Cyatheales, tree fern native to southern and central Sumatra and western Java, where it grows in forest at an altitude of 1000–2000 m. The trunk o ...

'' in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

. In 1855 he became correspondent of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

, he resigned in 1859.

Some publications

*1856 - ''Filice javanicae'', Batavia *1856 - ''Retzia observation of PLANTIS botanicae Botanici Bogoriensis horticulture'', Leiden *1859 - ''Hortus Bogoriensis descr. seu Retziae editio nova'' (1. Teil, Amsterdam 1858, 2. Teil in Bonplandia *1866 - ''Neuer Schlüssel zu Rumphs Herbarium amboinense'', Halle *1867 - ''Horti malabarici Rheedeani clavis locupletissima'', Dresden *1870 - ''Commelinaceae indicae'', Vienna *1847 - ''Plantae javanicae rariores'', Berlin

Honours

The gender ''

Hasskarlia ''Tetrorchidium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in ...

'' Baill. in the family ''Euphorbiaceae'' is named in his honor.

References

External links

* 1811 births 1894 deaths 19th-century Dutch explorers 19th-century Dutch botanists Dutch explorers H Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from Kassel People from the Kingdom of Westphalia {{Netherlands-botanist-stub

Biography

Some publications

Honours

See also

References

External links