Maximilian Leichtlin (20 October 1831,

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

– 3 September 1910,

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...

) was a German

horticulturalist 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 ...

. From 1846 he worked as a gardener at several sites in Europe, then spent several years engaged in travels. After returning from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

in 1856, he worked for two years at the Van Houtte nursery in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

. He then spent the next sixteen years working with his brothers in a paper manufacturing business. Afterwards, he relocated to

, where he founded a

botanical garden 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 ...

. He specialized in the cultivation and propagation of bulbous plants (

lilies ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

s, irises and

allium ''Allium'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes hundreds of species, including the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. The generic name ''Allium'' is the Latin word for garlic,Gledhill, D ...

s). Botanical taxa with the specific epithet of ''leichtlinii'' commemorate his name, two examples being, '' Camassia leichtlinii'' (great camas) and '' Calochortus leichtlinii'' (Leichtlin's mariposa).

Associated writings

* ''Pflanzen-Sammlung des Leichtlin'schen Gartens in Baden-Baden'' (1873 –). * "The plantsman of Baden : Maximilian Leichtlin 1831-1910", by Audrey Le Lievre.OCLC WorldCat
The plantsman of Baden : Maximilian Leichtlin 1831-1910

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leichtlin, Max 1831 births 1910 deaths German gardeners German horticulturists Scientists from Karlsruhe