Alessandro "Sandro" Pignatti (born 28 September 1930) is an Italian

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 ...

specialising in

pteridophyte A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that disperses spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as "cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is hidden. Ferns, ...

s and spermatophytes. The Australian plant species ''

Calectasia pignattiana ''Calectasia pignattiana'', commonly known as the stilted tinsel lily or Pignatti's star of Bethlehem, is a plant in the family Dasypogonaceae growing as a perennial herb and is endemic to the south–west of Western Australia. It is only ...

'' was named after him. On 31 May 1991 Pignatti received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at Uppsala University,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He is an Honorary Member of the

International Association for Vegetation Science The International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) promotes contact between scientists and others interested in the study of vegetation ecology, promotes research and publication of research results. In 1939 the International Phytosocio ...

(1997).http://iavs.org/Awards/Honorary-Members.aspx The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

of the Western Australian plant species, ''

'' honoured "Professors Erika and Alessandro Pignatti of Rome on the occasion of their seventieth birthdays".

References

20th-century Italian botanists 1930 births Living people {{Italy-botanist-stub