Ernst Hugo Heinrich Pfitzer (26 March 1846 – 3 December 1906) was a German

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 specialised in the

taxonomy of the Orchidaceae The taxonomy of the Orchidaceae (orchid family) has evolved slowly during the last 250 years, starting with Carl Linnaeus who in 1753 recognized eight genera.Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné). 1753. ''Species Plantarum'', 1st edition, vol. 2, pa ...

(

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

Biography

Pfitzer was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

. He studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

and botany at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and Königsberg, receiving his PhD in 1867. Afterwards he worked as assistant to Wilhelm Hofmeister in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

and under

Johannes von Hanstein Johannes Ludwig Emil Robert von Hanstein (15 May 1822 – 27 August 1880) was a German botanist who was a native of Potsdam. He attended classes at the ''Gärtnerlehranstalt'' (Institute of Horticulture) in Potsdam, and later studied sciences in ...

at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, where he obtained his habilitation in 1869.Pfitzer, Ernst Hugo Heinrich
at Deutsche Biographie From 1872 to 1906 he was a professor and director of the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

at Heidelberg. In the first edition of ''

Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien ''Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (1887–1915) by Adolf Engler (1844–1930) and Karl Anton Prantl is a complete revision of plant families down to generic level and often even further. As such it forms part of the Engler system of plant ta ...

'', a work by

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 ...

and

Carl Prantl Karl Anton Eugen Prantl (10 September 1849 – 24 February 1893), also known as Carl Anton Eugen Prantl, was a German botanist. Prantl was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, and studied in Munich. In 1870 he graduated with the dissertation ...

, he collaborated about orchids (published in 1889). In addition to his work involving orchids, he conducted important research of

diatom A diatom ( Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising se ...

s, publishing the treatise "''Untersuchungen über Bau und Entwicklung der Bacillariaceen (Diatomaceen)''" (1871) as a result.

Selected works

* ''Der Botanische Garten der Universität Heidelberg'', 1880 – The botanical garden at the University of Heidelberg. * ''Grundzüge einer vergleichenden morphologie der orchideen'', 1882 – Principles on the comparative morphology of orchids. * ''Entwurf einer Natürlichen Anordnung der Orchideen'', 1887 – Outline on the natural arrangement of orchids. * ''Orchidaceae-Pleonandrae'', 1903 –

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

-Pleonandrae. * ''Wilhelm Hofmeister'', 1903 – biography of Wilhelm Hofmeister. * ''Orchidaceae-Monandrae-Coelogyninae'', 1907 (with Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kraenzlin) – Orchidaceae-Monandrae-

Coelogyninae The Coelogyninae are an orchid subtribe in the tribe Arethuseae. Nothogenera Crosses between species in different genera within this subtribe are placed in the following nothogenera (i.e., hybrid genera)Alphabetical One-Table List of Genera a ...

.HathiTrust Digital Library
published works He died in

, aged 60.

References

External links

* * Orchidologists 1846 births 1906 deaths Botanists with author abbreviations Heidelberg University faculty Scientists from Königsberg 19th-century German botanists {{Germany-botanist-stub