Engelmann, George

Engelmann, George (ĕng`əlmən), 1809–84, American physician and botanist, b. Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, educated at the universities of Heidelberg and Würzburg (M.D., 1831). Emigrating to America in 1832, he settled in St. Louis, Mo., and built up a large medical practice. His interest in general science led him also to do research in biology and botany and to conduct systematic meteorological observations from 1836 until his death. He was the first to call attention to the immunity of the American grape to the attack of the plant lice Phylloxera. His large plant collection, library, notes, and drawings are in the Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis. Some of his more important papers were collected in Botanical Works of the Late George Engelmann (1877). Three plant genera and a number of species bear his name.