Siegfried Reissek (11 April 1819 in
Teschen – 9 November 1871 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
) was an Austrian
naturalist and
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 ...
who specialized in
spermatophyte
A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...
s. He is known for his studies involving
plant anatomy
Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal structure of plants. Originally it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th century plant ...
and
histology
Histology,
also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...
.
From 1837 to 1841 he was a student at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. He worked as assistant curator at the Royal Botanical Collection in Vienna between 1845 and 1867, when he was appointed head curator; and from 1848 was a member of the Vienna
Academy of Sciences
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...
. He circumscribed numerous plant taxa, including the genus ''Stenanthemum'' (family
Rhamnaceae
The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales.
The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...
). The plant genus ''
Reissekia'' from Brazil (in the family
Rhamnaceae
The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales.
The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...
) commemorates his name.
Publications
* ''Über die selbständige Entwickelung der Pollenzelle zur keimtragenden Pflanze'', 1844 – On the self-development of the pollen cell in germinating plants.
* ''Die Fasergewebe des Leines. des Hanfes, der Nessel und Baumwolle'', 1851 – The fibrous tissue of rope,
hemp
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...
,
nettle
{{redirect, Nettle
Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus ''Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" include ...
and cotton.
* ''Untersuchungen über die Fäulniss der Mohrrüben'', 1852 – Studies on the putrefaction of
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...
s.
* ''Alphitomyces schroetteri'' (1856).
* ''Die Palmen. Eine physiognomisch-culturhistorische Skizze'', 1861 – The palms.
* ''Celastrineae, Ilicineae et Rhamneae'', 1861. In: ''
Flora Brasiliensis
''Flora Brasiliensis'' is a book published between 1840 and 1906 by the editors Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, August Wilhelm Eichler, Ignatz Urban and many others. It contains taxonomic treatments of 22,767 species, mostly Brazilian angiosper ...
''.
* ''Die Vegetation von Südasien'', 1864 – Vegetation of southern Asia.
* "Correspondence : Reissek (Siegfried) and Engelmann (George)", 1876.
References
19th-century Austrian botanists
Austrian naturalists
1819 births
1871 deaths
People from Cieszyn
University of Vienna alumni
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