Paul Friedrich August Ascherson (June 4, 1834 – March 6, 1913) 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 ...

. His author citation is ''Asch.'', although ''Aschers.'' has been used in the past. Ascherson was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1834 as the son of health counsellor. In 1850, he started studying

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

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 ...

, but soon started getting more interested in

botany 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 w ...

. In 1855, he received his doctorate for a dissertation about the flora of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

. In the 1850s, he started to botanize in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, including several excursions with Ludwig Schneider and Gustav Maass. In 1860, Ascherson became an assistant at the

Botanical Garden in Berlin The Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum (german: Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin) is a botanical garden in the locality of the borough of , Berlin, Germany. Constructed between 1897 and 1910 under the guidance of archi ...

; in 1865 he also started working at the Royal

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. In 1863, he obtained his habilitation for specific botany and

plant geography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

. In 1873, Ascherson became associate professor at the University of Berlin. He accompanied

Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (14 April 1831 – 2 June 1896) was a German geographer, explorer, author and adventurer. Biography Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs was born at Bremen-Vegesack, Vegesack, now part of Bremen. His father was a physician, and t ...

on his 1873/74 expedition in the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n desert. After 1876, he went on further expeditions in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, publishing fundamental works about the flora of the continent. In the 1890s he botanized in

Jerichower Land Jerichower Land is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its neighbouring administrative units are (clockwise from the south): the districts of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Salzlandkreis, the city of Magdeburg, the districts o ...

and in the

Vorharz Vorharz is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated east of Halberstadt. It was created on 1 January 2010. The seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' is in Wegeleben. The ''Verba ...

along with

Paul Graebner Carl Otto Robert Peter Paul Graebner (29 June 1871 in Aplerbeck – 6 February 1933 in Berlin) was a German botanist. In 1895 he obtained his doctorate in Berlin, successively working as an assistant and then as curator (1904) at the botanical ga ...

. Ascherson is known for combining works about the flora in certain localities with his own observations to write descriptions of the flora of a larger territory. He was also an

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. Insect collections made by him in Africa are conserved in

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major muse ...

in Berlin. In 1848 botanist Mont. published '' Aschersonia''>, which is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of fungi in the order Hypocreales and family

Clavicipitaceae The Clavicipitaceae are a family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genera in the family, but recent work has increased this number to 97. Phylogeny Molecular phylogenetic analysis of multigene DNA sequence data in ...

. and named in Ascherson's honour.

Works

* ''Flora der Provinz Brandenburg, der Altmark und des Herzogthums Magdeburg. Zum gebrauche in schulen und auf excursionen.'' Berlin, August Hirschwald, 1864 * ''Catalogus cormophytorum et anthophytorum Serbiae, Bosniae, Hercegovinae, Montis Scodri, Albaniae hucusque cognitorum.'' Claudiopoli, Typ. N.K. Papp, 1877 * ''Synopsis der mitteleuropaïschen Flora.'' Leipzig : W. Engelmann, 1896 * ''Flora des nordostdeutschen flachlandes (ausser Ostpreussen).'' Berlin, Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1898–99 * ''Nordostdeutsche Schulflora : Tabellen zur Bestimmung der wildwachsenden und der häufiger angebauten Blüten- und Farnpflanzen der Provinzen Brandenburg, Pommern, Posen, Ost- und Westpreussen, und Sachsen (Nordhälfte), der Grossherzogtümer Mecklenburg und des Herzogtums Anhalt nach der Flora des nordostdeutschen Flachlandes.'' Berlin : Borntraeger, 1902 * ''Potamogetonaceae.'' Leipzig : Engelmann, 1907

Notes

References

* Grünzel, Hermann
Ascherson, Paul Friedrich August
in Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon. Retrieved August 27, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ascherson, Paul Friedrich August 19th-century German botanists German entomologists Scientists from Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin faculty 1834 births 1913 deaths