Josef Poelt was a botanist, bryologist and lichenologist. He held the chair in Systematic Botany and Plant Geography at the Free University of Berlin (1965 - 1972) and then was head of the Botanical Institute and Botanical Garden of Graz University, Austria (1972 - 1990).
Early life and education
Josef Poelt was born in 1925 in the village of Pöcking in Bavaria, Germany, where his parents ran a guest house. He began to study botany at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
but due to the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he joined the German army and was assigned to an intelligence unit in Russia. After illness and time as a prisoner of war of the British, he returned to university study in 1946 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in natural sciences in 1950. Poelt was influenced by a botanist, H. Paul, to study non-flowering plants. He made use of the lichen herbarium at the university's botanic garden which contained nineteenth century specimens collected by Ferdinand Arnold and August von Krempelhuber. He later completed both his PhD (1950) and
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
(1959) there.
Career
He became an assistant at the botanic garden in Munich and from 1954 was curator of the
cryptogam
A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...
herbarium at the
Botanische Staatssammlung München
The Botanische Staatssammlung München is a notable herbarium and scientific center maintained by thStaatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns Its building is located within the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg area at Menzinger ...
. In 1965, Poelt was appointed to the chair in Systematic Botany and Plant Geography at the
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
to lead a new research institute. He was able to recruit staff, including
Christian Leuckert
Christian Leuckert was a lichen taxonomist who applied the diversity of secondary metabolites within lichens as useful taxonomic criteria. He was Director of the Institute of Plant Systematics and Plant Geography at the Free University of Berl ...
, and install new facilities including for chemotaxonomy of lichens. He moved to the chair in Systematic Botany at the University of Graz in Austria in 1972. This was in part to be away from student unrest in Berlin. He was able to develop an international centre for cryptogam biology that included visiting researchers, an extensive herbarium and training programmes. He retired in 1990 but continued to work at University of Graz as an emeritus professor until his death in 1995.
Poelt specialised in the taxonomy, morphology, evolution and biology of lichens, especially the areas of lichen biology, correlations between structure and function, and evolutionary trends in lichens. His work from 1950 onwards provided modern, detailed and practical descriptions of lichen species. As well as microscopic features he also made use of chemical characteristics to circumscribe species. He made a significant contribution to the taxonomy of the Lecanoraceae, Physciaceae and the Teloschistaceae, as well as several other taxa. He also provided insights into the vegetative reproductive structures of lichens, described lichens that live on mosses ( muscicolous species) and investigated species with
cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...
photobiont
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. He improved knowledge of parasitic lichens from that of vague and poorly understood organisms to where their biological and ecological strategies and characters were described clearly and he identified many new taxa with this parasitic habit. Others often sent him samples of lichens for advice about identification. He also travelled widely to see lichens in the field, including to Brazil, Costa Rica, Greenland, Tierra del Fuego, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal as well as all round Europe. In addition he had a very broad knowledge of general plant systematics and floristics. Poelt edited several
exsiccatae
Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae refer to numbered collections of dried herbarium specimens respectivel ...
.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2022 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.
Publications
Poelt published his first paper in 1950, and was an author or co-author of at least 400 publications. These included around 200 about lichens. The book ''Bestimmungsschlüssel europäischer Flechten'' was published in 1969, an important key for identification of European lichens, followed by several supplements (1977, 1981) that he prepared in collaboration with others. His completion of a comprehensive account of the lichens of Austria was prevented by his sudden death. He was also the author or co-author of at least 100 publications on bryophytes, vascular plants and fungi.
Honours and Awards
He was elected as a member of the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...
in 1982. He was made an honorary member of the
Regensburg Botanical Society
The Regensburg Botanical Society (''Regensburgische Botanische Gesellschaft''), founded 1790 in the city of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany, is the oldest extant scientific society focused on botany. It was initially supported by the Prince-Archbis ...
, the world's oldest botanical society and a foreign member of the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
. He was also an honorary corresponding member of the
Botanical Society of America
The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society.
History
The soci ...
. A
festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
was held to celebrate his birthday in 1985 when he was sixty. In 1992 he was awarded the
Acharius Medal
__NOTOC__
The Acharius Medal is awarded by the International Association for Lichenology (IAL) for lifetime achievement in lichenology. The organization resolved at its 1990 meeting that it would simultaneously honor professional achievement and c ...
by the
International Association for Lichenology
The International Association for Lichenology (IAL) is an organisation that encourages the understanding of lichens and lichenology, and promotes their study and conservation worldwide. It unites lichenologists across the globe, as well as national ...
in recognition of his long and distinguished service to lichenology.
Eight genera and 33 species have been named after him.
Personal life
He married the mycologist Christa Meilhamer (1937–76) in 1959 and they had two children together. Poelt was an alpine mountaineer and good at
yodelling
Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from th ...