Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (16 October 1872 – 16 November 1925) was a German

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

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 author of several works on

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

. He went on botanical 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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. His vast herbarium was destroyed during the bombing of

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 1945.

Early life

Rudolf Schlechter was born on 16 October 1872 in Berlin, the third of six children. His father Hugo Schlechter was a

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. After finishing school at the

Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium The Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium (or Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium) was a secondary school ( ''Gymnasium'') in Berlin. History The school originated from a Realschule founded by the Pietist Johann Julius Hecker in 1747, the first secondary school ...

he started a

horticulture 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 ...

education, first at the gardening market of Mrs. Bluth and then 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 ...

garden. There he worked as an assistant till the autumn of 1891. His brother was Max Schlechter (1874–1960), was a German trader and collector of natural history specimens.

Career

Rudolf Schlechter began his career of botanical fieldwork by leaving Europe in 1891 to journey to Africa and subsequently across

and

. Throughout his career he has focused on expanding his research collection of orchids. He was a leader of expeditions in

German Africa Germany colonized Africa during two distinct periods. In the 1680s, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, then leading the broader realm of Brandenburg-Prussia, pursued limited imperial efforts in West Africa. The Brandenburg African Company was charte ...

, investigating the

Caoutchouc Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

industry, but continually collecting plant specimens. He also lived extensively in

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

in the first decade of the new century. Before

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 ...

he settled in Berlin, marrying his wife Alexandra Schlechter and becoming curator of Berlin's botanical garden in Dahlem. He is estimated to have proposed one thousand new species in the family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

alone.

Works

* ''Die Orchideen von Deutsch-Neu-Guinea'', 1914 * ''Die Orchideen, ihre Beschreibung, Kultur und Züchtung'', 1915 * ''Orchideologiae sino-japonicae prodromus'', 1919 * ''Orchidaceae Powellianae Panamenses'', 1922 * ''Die Orchideenflora der südamerikanischen Kordillerenstaaten'' (written with

Rudolf Mansfeld Rudolf Mansfeld (17 January 1901, Berlin – 1960) was a German botanist and agricultural scientist. For more than twenty years, he worked as a curator at the Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum in Berlin-Dahlem. Here he specialized in stud ...

), 1919–1929 * ''Monographie und Iconographie der Orchideen Europas und des Mittelmeergebietes'' (written with G. Keller), 1925–1943 * ''Blütenanalysen neuer Orchideen'' (published by R. Mansfeld), 1930–1934

Honours

Several genera of plants have been named in his honour, ''

Schlechterella ''Schlechterella'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae (the dogbane family). It is native to Africa, found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. , the genus contained two species: * '' Schlechterella abyssinica' ...

'' (in the

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of ...

family),''

Schlechterina ''Schlechterina'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Passifloraceae. The only knowns species is ''Schlechterina mitostemmatoides''. It is native to Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and KwaZulu-Natal (in South Africa). T ...

'' (in the

Passifloraceae The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include trees, shrubs, lianas, and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions. The family takes its name from ...

family), and also ''

Rudolfiella ''Rudolfiella'', abbreviated as Rud. in the horticultural trade, is a genus of orchids comprising eight species native to tropical South America, Trinidad and Panama. They are found in northern Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Pa ...

'' , (in the

family).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlechter, Rudolf 20th-century German botanists Orchidologists 1872 births 1925 deaths Botanists active in Africa Botanists active in the Pacific Botanists active in Australia Botanists active in South America Botanists active in Central America Botanists with author abbreviations 19th-century German botanists Scientists from Berlin