George Engelmann, also known as Georg Engelmann, (2 February 1809 - 4 February 1884) was a German-American botanist. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor Year 1809 ( MDCCCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life He was instrumental in describing the flora of the west of North America, then very poorly-known; he was particularly active in the Rocky Mountains and northern Mexico. In Botany, flora ( Plural: floras or florae has two meanings The first meaning flora of an area or of time period, refers to all Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a Mountain range in western North America. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America.
He was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the oldest of thirteen children. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. According to himself, he first became interested in plants around age 15, but studied medicine and received an MD in 1831. He came to the US in the following year, apparently to invest some of his uncle's money, but spent his time on botanical travels, first visiting Thomas Nuttall in Philadelphia. Thomas Nuttall ( January 5, 1786 - September 10, 1859) was an English botanist and Zoologist, who lived He then went to St. Louis, Missouri, and from there around to the adjacent states. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee After a couple of years on a farm in Illinois, he returned to St. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Louis and established a medical practice. In 1840 he visited Germany, where he married a cousin, Dorothea Horstmann, and they returned to America. (Their son George Julius Engelmann became a noted gynecologist. George Julius Engelmann ( July 2, 1847 - November 16, 1903) was an American Obstetrician and Gynecologist who was a native )
Engelmann devoted himself to his medical practice, but in his later years made further travels, particularly to the southwestern US to study cacti. A cactus (plural cacti) is any member of the Spine plant family Cactaceae, native to the Americas His two major works on cacti remain important today.
He was a founder and longtime president of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences, and encouraged the wealthy St. Louis businessman Henry Shaw to develop his gardens to be of scientific as well as public use; "Shaw's Gardens" became the Missouri Botanical Garden. Henry Shaw may refer to Henry Shaw (botanist (1800&ndash1889 American botanist and philanthropist Henry Marchmore Shaw (1819&ndash1864 The Missouri Botanical Garden is a Botanical garden located in St
He is commemorated in the names of several plants, including Engelmann Spruce Picea engelmannii and Apache Pine Pinus engelmannii. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Picea engelmannii ( Engelmann Spruce) is a species of Spruce native to western North America, from central British Columbia and
References
- Duane Isely, One hundred and one botanists (Iowa State University Press, 1994), pp. 188-190