Reinhold Conrad Muschler aka Reno Muschler (9 August 1882

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

– 10 December 1957 Berlin), was a German botanist, explorer and writer, who worked on the taxonomy of North African flora. He travelled extensively with

Ernest Friedrich Gilg Ernest (or Ernst) Friedrich Gilg (12 January 1867 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany – 11 October 1933 in Berlin) was a German botanist. Life Gilg was curator of the Botanical Museum in Berlin. With fellow botanist Adolf Engler, he co-authored ...

(1867–1933) and carried out a revision of the flora of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

. His parents were both well-known singers at the Court Opera in Berlin. After finishing high school in Berlin, he travelled widely in Europe and Africa, spending the winters of 1902–1906 in Egypt after he was found to be suffering from TB. It was during these rest-cures that he met

Georg Schweinfurth Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa. Life and explorations He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was edu ...

and Paul Ascherson, who encouraged him to become involved in the botany of Egypt. Consequently, he studied under

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 ...

, receiving his doctorate on African ''

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Mor ...

'' species in 1908, and becoming an assistant at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Dahlem-Berlin. Between 1906 and 1914 he authored and co-authored some 65 botanical papers, describing 10 new genera, 380 new species and about 50 new combinations. Irregularities in the ''Manual Flora of Egypt'' led to Schweinfurth and Engler accusing him of fraud and the matter being taken to court. The case against Muschler was dismissed on the grounds of his being mentally disturbed at the time. Even so, the scandal led to his leaving the Royal Botanic Gardens of Berlin in September 1913. A 2001 paper by Olof Ryding notes that the 1913 publication by Luigi Buscalioni and Muschler on plants supposedly collected by the

Duchess of Aosta The Duchess of Aosta is the wife of the Duke of Aosta, a title created by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor in the 13th century. The Duchy of Aosta had already been ruled by the House of Savoy for some time; it is a corner of the Italian Alps n ...

is highly suspect in respect of the specimens' provenance and collector. Many of these doubtful specimens are now believed to have been collected by Schweinfurth in Eritrea and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. A large number of Muschler's type specimens were destroyed by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and European botanists, excited by the fuss, had a field day examining his specimens, descriptions and drawings and making precipitate judgements about their validity in terms of the rules of nomenclature. Weighing the irregularities Ryding argued that many of Muschler's names and descriptions of the types in the Egyptian Flora should stand.''Reno Muschler and the identity of his African Labiates'' - Olof Ryding
/ref> During the War Muschler stayed in Egypt and on his return to Germany became a noted writer and music critic. He wrote "Egyptian Travel Sketches" in 1915, biographies of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

, Richard Strauss and Philipp zu Eulenburg, and many novels in which he glorified love as a form of religion. Muschler was living at 23a Fürstenstrasse, Berlin at the time of his death. His grave is at the

Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf (Zehlendorf forest cemetery) is a cemetery located in Berlin's Nikolassee district. The cemetery occupies an area of 376,975 m2. An additional Italian war cemetery was created there in 1953. A number of notable people of Be ...

. The

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n composite genus of '' Muschleria'' was created by

Spencer Le Marchant Moore Spencer Le Marchant Moore (1 November 1850 – 14 March 1931) was an English botanist. Biography Moore was born in Hampstead. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, from about 1870 to 1879, wrote a number of botanical papers, and then work ...

in 1914 to honour Muschler.The Plant List
/ref>

Botanical Works

* 1909 -

, RC Muschler. ''Phanerogamen''. Blütenpflanzen. Ed. Leipzig, Quelle & Meyer. 53 ill. 172 pp. * 1912 - ''A Manual Flora of Egypt''. 2 vols. 421 pp, ''Alphabetical list of Arabian names of plants'' Append. VII

Novels

* "Douglas Webb" (1921) * "Der lachende Tod" (1923) * "Komödie des Lebens" (Novellen 1923) * "Bianca Maria" (1925) * "Der Weg ohne Ziel" (1926) * "Der Geiger" (1927) * "Basil Brunin" (1928) * "Liebe in Monte" (1930) * "Insel der Jugend" (1929) * "Klaus Schöpfer" (1931) * "Die Unbekannte" (1934), inspired by

L'Inconnue de la Seine ''L'Inconnue de la Seine'' (English: ''The Unknown Woman of the Seine'') was an unidentified young woman whose putative death mask became a popular fixture on the walls of artists' homes after 1900. Her visage inspired numerous literary works. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muschler, Reinhold Conrad 20th-century German botanists 1957 deaths 1882 births German male writers Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf Scientists from Berlin