Karl Friedrich Reiche ( es, Carlos Reiche, October 31, 1860 – February 26, 1929) was a German

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 ...

who worked as a university

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Life

Reiche was born in

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 larg ...

and earned his doctorate in 1885 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. He worked as a professor in Dresden (1886-1889) and Constitución, Chile (1889-1896). He was a professor in Mexico, and he directed the botanical section of the

Chilean National Museum of Natural History The Chilean National Museum of Natural History ( es, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, links=no or ) is one of three national museums in Chile, along with the Museum of Fine Arts and the National History Museum. It is located in Quinta Normal ...

(''Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile'') in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

from 1896 to 1911, while

Rodolfo Amando Philippi Rodolfo Amando (or Rudolph Amandus) Philippi (14 September 1808 – 23 July 1904) was a German–Chilean paleontologist and zoologist. Philippi contributed primarily to malacology and paleontology. His grandson, Rodulfo Amando Philippi Bañados ...

was director. There he published in the '' Annals of the University of Chile'' and at the same time six volumes of the ''Estudios críticos de la Flora de Chile'', work which remained unfinished. Although formally he was recognized as the only author of this work, probably he collaborated with

Federico Philippi Federico Philippi or Friedrich Heinrich Eunom Philippi (16 December 1838 – 16 January 1910) was a German zoologist and botanist active in Chile. He was the youngest son of the famed naturalist Rodolfo Amando Philippi and Caroline Krumwiede. He wa ...

and F. Johow. He wrote the entries to many plant

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

in the work ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' by

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...

and

Carl Prantl Karl Anton Eugen Prantl (10 September 1849 – 24 February 1893), also known as Carl Anton Eugen Prantl, was a German botanist. Prantl was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, and studied in Munich. In 1870 he graduated with the dissertation ...

in the first edition (1890–1897). Reiche weg

Upon leaving the museum, he assumed a post as professor of botany in the

Escuela Nacional de Altos Estudios The Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (''School of Philosophy and Literature'') or FFyL of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) administers eleven divisions of the humanities offering undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Department ...

in México (1911-1923). He became a corresponding member of the

German Botanical Society The German Society for Plant Sciences (also known as German Botanical Society, ''Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft'', DBG) is a non-profit network for plant sciences and botany in the German-speaking area. It was founded 1882 at Eisenach, Germany. In ...

(''Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft'') in 1911. From 1924 he worked in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, as an independent investigator of 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 1926 he returned to Mexico to complete his work and take a job as emprendido for the Chilean flora. In 1928 he directed the phanerogamy section of the

Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg The Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg (21.20 hectares) is a botanical garden and arboretum located at Menzinger Str. 65, Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is open daily, except on 24 and 31 December; an admission fee is charged. Histo ...

. He died in

in 1929. The plant genus '' Reichea'' ('' Myrcianthes'' today) in family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

, ''

Reicheocactus ''Reicheocactus'', is a monotypic genus of cactus in the family Cactaceae, native to north western Argentina. It has only one known species; ''Reicheocactus famatimensis'' It is usually solitary or slowly clumping and slow growing. The stems are ...

'' in family

Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

, and ''

Reicheella ''Reicheella'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae. It has a synonym of ''Bryopsis'' , and only contains one known species, Reicheella andicola (Phil.) Pax Its native range is northern Chile. The genus name o ...

'' in family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

are named for him. A type of frog '' Arthroleptis reichei'', sometimes known as 'Reiche's squeaker', is also named after him.

Writings

* ''Grundzüge der Pflanzenverbreitung in Chile'', Leipzig, 1907 (Reprint Gantner: Vaduz, 1976). ("Die Vegetation der Erde"; 8) Available online at https://archive.org/details/grundzgederpfla00reicgoog/page/n9?q=Pflanzenverbreitung+in+Chile * '"Kreuz und quer durch Mexiko" in ''Wanderbuch eines deutschen Gelehrten''. Leipzig: Deutsche Buchwerkstätten GmbH 1930. * "Estudios críticos de la Flora de Chile." '' Anales de Universidad de Chile'', 1894–1911. Available online at http://www.efloras.org/ * ''Geografía botánica de Chile'', 1934 * ''La vegetación de los alrededores de la capital de México'', 1924 * ''Flora excursoria en el Valle Central de México'', 1926

Notes

Sources

* H. Ross: ''Karl Reiche''. In: ''Berichte der deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft'' 47, 1929, Generalversammlung-Heft. * Robert Zander. ''Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen''. Fritz Encke, Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold, eds. Vol. 13. Stuttgart: Ulmer Verlag, 1984. *
biographical notes '' biografiasyvidas.com''

Abstract to Grundzüge der Pflanzenverbreitung in Chile
(from New Zealand National Library) * Gunckel H. 1961. "Sesquicentenario de la Independencia nacional Centenario del Nacimiento del sabio botánico Dr. Carlos Reiche." ''Revista Universitaria'' 67-70. :''This article is based on translations of articles from the

Spanish Wikipedia The Spanish Wikipedia ( es, Wikipedia en español) is a Spanish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. It has articles. Started in May 2001, it reached 100,000 articles on March 8, 2006 and 1,000,000 articles on May 16, 2013 ...

and the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reiche, Karl Friedrich 1860 births 1929 deaths 19th-century German botanists Employees of the Chilean National Museum of Natural History Leipzig University alumni 20th-century German botanists