Engler, Adolf Gustav Heinrich

Engler, Adolf Gustav Heinrich 

Born Mar. 25, 1844, in Sagan; died Oct. 10, 1930, in Berlin. German botanist.

Engler graduated from the University of Breslau in 1866. He was an assistant docent at the University of Munich in 1871 and a professor at the University of Kiel in 1878, the University of Breslau in 1884, and the University of Berlin from 1889 to 1921.

In 1887, Engler developed a phylogenetic system for flowering plants; its lowest category was the genus. Engler’s system was accepted in many herbaria and floras, including Flora of the USSR (vols. 1–30, 1934–64). Engler was one of the founders of the historical geography of plants. He compiled and edited several basic reference works, including The Natural Plant Families (1887–1915), The Plant Kingdom (from 1900), and The Vegetation of the Earth (1896–1928).

Engler was a foreign corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1888) and an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1927).

WORKS

Versuch einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt, vols. 1–2. Leipzig, 1879–82.
Syllabus der Planzenfamilien, 12th ed., vols. 1–2. Berlin, 1954–64.

REFERENCE

Diels, L. “Zum Gedächtnis von Adolf Engler.” Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik der Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie, 1931, vol. 64.