Karl Theodor Rümpler (1817 in Alterstedt – 23 May 1891 in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

) 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 ...

and

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. He developed a passion for botany in his youth, and studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the gymnasium in

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

, where one of his classmates was Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers. He later took classes in botany,

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and foreign languages at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. Beginning in 1852 he was associated with the ''Gärtner-Lehr-Anstalt zu Erfurt'' (a gardener-teaching institution in

) as an instructor and inspector.Illustriertes Gartenbau-Lexikon
biography translated from German In 1860 he became secretary of the ''Erfurter Gartenbauvereins'' (Erfurt Horticultural Association) as well as secretary of the county agricultural association. From 1873 onward, he was director of the newly established agricultural school in Erfurt. He is remembered for his investigations of the 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 was the taxonomic authority of numerous

cactus 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 ...

species. In 1886, he published a new edition of Karl Friedrich Förster's 1846 "''Handbuch der Cacteenkunde in ihrem ganzen Umfange''".

Selected works

* ''Erfurt's Land- und Gartenbau in seinen wichtigsten Entwickelungs-Momenten'', 1865 – Erfurt's agriculture and horticulture in its most important moments of development. * ''Die Gartenblumen, ihre Beschreibung, Anzucht und Pflege'', 1876 – The flower garden, description, cultivation and care. * ''Illustriertes Gartenbau-Lexikon. Unter Mitwirkung zahlreicher Fachmänner aus Wissenschaft und Praxis'', 1882 – Illustrated horticulture, etc. * ''Karl Friedrich Förster's Handbuch der Cacteenkunde in ihrem ganzen Umfange'', 1886 (2 volumes) – Karl Friedrich Förster's handbook of Cactaceae in its whole extent. * ''Die Sukkulenten (Fettplanzen und Kakteen) : Beschreibung, Abbildung und Kultur derselben'', 1892 (with Karl Schumann) –

Succulent plant In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

s (succulents and cacti): description, illustration and culture.WorldCat Search
published works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumpler, Karl Theodor 1817 births 1891 deaths People from Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis 19th-century German botanists German horticulturists