Fang Wen-Pei (方文培) (1899–1983), was a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

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 ...

, an expert on

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s and on the Maple Family. He worked in the Institute of Botany, at the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

after graduating from

Southeast University Southeast University (SEU, ) is a public research university located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It was formed from one of the oldest universities and the first coeducational university in China, and designated as a member of the Double First C ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Fang furthered his study at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1934 and received his PhD in 1937. In the same year, he returned to China and became a biology professor at

Sichuan University Sichuan University (SCU) is a National university, national National Key Universities, key public university, public research university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is wholly funded by Ministry of Education of the People's Republic ...

until his death. In his lifelong research, he identified more than 100 new species of plants in which he named more than 40, publishing 8 monographs and over 50 papers. He was honored as "one of the most distinguished Chinese botanists".

Sources

Sichuan University Document
*
Taxonomic Literature
by Frans Antonie Stafleu, E. A. Mennega
IPNI entry

Notes on Dendrobenthamia
by Wenpei Fang {{DEFAULTSORT:Fang, Wen-Pei 1899 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Chinese botanists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academic staff of Sichuan University