Reinhard Gustav Paul Knuth (1874–1957) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

taxonomist, botanist and

pteridologist #REDIRECTFern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pter ...

responsible for "''Initia florae venezuelensis''" in 1928, and numerous contributions to

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 ...

's "''Das Pflanzenreich''" on

Geraniaceae Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus ''Geranium''. The family includes both the genus ''Geranium'' (the cranesbills, or true geraniums) and the garden plants called ...

Oxalidaceae The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, are a small family of five genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 570 species in the genus ''Oxalis'' (wood sorrels). Members of this family typically have divid ...

Lecythidaceae The Lecythidaceae comprise a family (biology), family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia. The most important member of the family in wor ...

, and other families. He worked for more than 50 years at the Botanical Museum in

Berlin-Dahlem Dahlem ( or ) is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. It is located between the mansion settlements of Grunewald and L ...

. As part of his training in plant systematics he visited the herbaria at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, Brussels, Geneva, Paris and Utrecht. He was not only a botanist, but was well-versed in zoology, chemistry and geography. While his main interests in botany were systematics and

phytogeography 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 ...

, he also ventured into other disciplines and in his final 30 years was working on problems in bacteriology and the growth of

Ascomycetes Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...

, the source of

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

s and

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

. His own extensive herbarium collection of some 26 000 specimens was lost when the Dahlem Botanical Museum was destroyed by bombing and fire on the nights of 1 and 2 March 1943. The catastrophe was keenly felt by Knuth who had closely identified with the Museum and had experienced his botanical grounding there. Also destroyed were all his notes and manuscripts including his monograph on the

Elaeocarpaceae Elaeaocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Be ...

, ready to go to press. Knuth was a quiet, withdrawn and excessively modest person, impeccable character with a deep sense of duty and order, and greatly respected by his colleagues and students. Conversations with him showed a keen and critical intellect which would respond with gentle irony to any human failing. In addition to frequent collecting trips in Germany, Knuth travelled to locations such as the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

and

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Some Publications

*Knuth, R, A Engler, L Diels, H Stubbe, K Noack. 1956. "''Das Pflanzenreich''". H. 105 = IV. 219. Barringtoniaceae. Ed. Engelmann *Pax, FA; Knuth, RGP. 1905. "''Primulaceae''". Mit 311 Einzelbildern in 75 Figuren und 2 Verbreitungskarten (Das Pflanzenreich. Hft. 22.) *"''Über die geographische Verbreitung und die Anpassungserscheinungin der Gattung Geranium im Verhältnis zu ihrer systematischen Gliederung''", Inaugural-Dissertation... von Reinhard Knuth. 1902. Ed. W. Engelmann. 47 pp. He is commemorated in ''Elaeocarpus knuthii'' Merr. 1951, ''Euphorbia knuthii'' Pax, ''Eschweilera knuthii'' J.F.Macbr. 1940, ''Oxalis knuthii'' Herter 1931, ''Oxalis knuthii'' Pittier 1939. Knuth is denoted by the author abbreviation R.Knuth when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the '' International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Intern ...

External links

Plants described and named by Knuth

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knuth, Reinhard Gustav Paul 20th-century German botanists German taxonomists 1874 births 1957 deaths