Georg Heinrich Mettenius (24 November 1823 – 18 August 1866) 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 ...
born in
Frankfurt am Main. He was son-in-law to botanist
Alexander Braun (1805–1877).
In 1845 he received his medical doctorate from the
University of Heidelberg. After graduation, he studied
marine algae in
Helgoland and
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
. In 1848 he returned to
Heidelberg as a
privat-docent, and was later appointed an associate professor of botany at
Freiburg. In 1852 he became a full professor at the
University of Leipzig as well as director of its
botanical garden. He died of
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
in Leipzig at the age of 42.
Mettenius was a leading authority in the field of
pteridology. The plant genus ''
Metteniusa'' (family
Metteniusaceae) is named in his honor.
Selected publications
* ''Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Rhizocarpeen'' (1846) - Contributions to the knowledge of
Rhizocarpaceae.
* "Filices horti botanici Lipsiensis" (1856)
* "Filices Lechlerianae Chilenses ac Peruanae cura" (1856).
* ''Über einige Farngattungen'' (volumes 1 to 6, 1857) - On some
fern genera.
Google Books
(publications)
References
Journal of Botany, British and Foreign
(biography)
19th-century German botanists
Pteridologists
Scientists from Frankfurt
Academic staff of the University of Freiburg
Academic staff of Leipzig University
1823 births
1866 deaths
{{Germany-botanist-stub