Karl (Charles) Andreas Geyer (30 November 1809 – 21 November 1853) was a German botanist who was a native of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Biography

As a teenager, Geyer worked as an apprentice-gardener in Zabeltitz, and in 1830 became an assistant at the

botanical gardens 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 ...

in Dresden. From 1835 to 1844 he performed botanical studies on several expeditions within the United States. In 1838-40 he worked as a botanist in the Upper Midwest for

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Joseph Nicollet Joseph Nicolas Nicollet (July 24, 1786 – September 11, 1843), also known as Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, was a French geographer, astronomer, and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin during the 1830s. Nicollet led three ...

(1786-1843), and in 1841-42 collected plants in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and the

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...

for botanist George Engelmann (1809-1884). Afterwards he joined explorer

William Drummond Stewart Sir William Drummond Stewart, 7th Baronet (26 December 1795 – 28 April 1871) was a Scottish adventurer and British military officer. He travelled extensively in the American West for nearly seven years in the 1830s. In 1837 he took along the ...

(1795–1871) on an expedition through the present-day states of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. Eventually, Geyer parted company with Stewart, and performed extensive botanical research in what would later be known as the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

. The plant specimens Geyer collected in 1843/44 were supposed to be sent to George Engelmann in exchange for Engelmann paying most of the expense of outfitting Geyer for the journey. However, Geyer left the U.S. west coast by boat, and sailed to England, delivering the plant specimens to William J. Hooker at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

instead. In 1845 he returned to Germany, where he purchased land in Meissen and started a nursery. During his later years, he was an editor of the horticultural journal ''Die Cronik des Gartenwesens''.JSTOR Plant Science
(biography) Geyer has a number of plant species named after him, including '' Allium geyeri'' (Geyer's onion) and ''Euphorbia geyeri'' (Geyer's

spurge ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

). His botanical collection of nearly 10,000 specimens was acquired by the

Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

References

* (biography of Carl Andreas Geyer)
Nicollet Project Website
(diaries and plant specimens collected by Geyer in 1838 and 1839).

External links

Presettlement Wildlife and Habitat of Montana: An Overview {{DEFAULTSORT:Geyer, Karl Andreas 19th-century German botanists Scientists from Dresden 1809 births 1853 deaths German explorers of North America Explorers of Oregon Explorers of Montana