Siegfried Jost Casper (12 January 1929 – 13 June 2021) was a German

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

whose primary research was in

limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteris ...

and the plant genus ''

Pinguicula ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...

'' (the

butterwort ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...

s). Together with Heinz-Dieter Krausch he published a basic reference work on the freshwater

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

of central

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. For many years he studied the East German lake Stechlinsee as well as the river

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale ...

. In 1966 he published a monograph of the genus ''Pinguicula'', a work that is still in use today. He described at least 14 new species, most recently '' Pinguicula lippoldii'' and ''

Pinguicula toldensis ''Pinguicula toldensis'' is an insectivorous plant of the genus ''Pinguicula'' endemic to the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountain region of eastern Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an islan ...

'' in 2007.Casper, S.J. 2007. ''Pinguicula lippoldii'' nova spec. and ''Pinguicula toldensis'' nova spec. – two endemic ''Pinguicula'' species (Lentibulariaceae) from East Cuba new to science. ''Wulfenia'' 14: 75–96. He served as head of the Botanical Garden of the

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

and from 1990 until his death was a member of the "Akademie Gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften" in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Publications

* ''Monographie der Gattung ''Pinguicula'' L.'', (Bibliotheca Botanica, Heft 127/128), 1966, Stuttgart

Notes and references

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved December 29, 2006). 1929 births 2021 deaths 20th-century German botanists People from Erzgebirgskreis {{germany-botanist-stub