Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt
Encyclopedia
Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt 13 February 1825 Hamburg
- 3 March 1897 Hamburg, was a German botanist who specialised in the study of African plants.
As a child he showed artistic talent, but for financial reasons training and a career in art could not be followed. In 1854 he and his brother took over the running of a boys' school in Hamburg. He taught there until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War
after which he taught natural science at several schools in Hamburg.
His first botanical collections were made in and about Hamburg as well as on the North Sea
coastline. Through his collecting he became acquainted with Professor Lehman of the Hamburg Botanical Gardens, who invited Klatt to organise and run his herbarium. Lehman acted as mentor to Klatt who soon concentrated his attention on the botanical families of Iridaceae
and Pittosporaceae
. His subsequent revision of the Iridaceae "Revisio Iridearum" led to his being awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Rostock
and an offer of a professorship which he declined.
Klatt contributed sections on Iridaceae to several publications - "Conspectus Florae Africae" by Durand v. Schinz, "Flora Brasiliensis" by Martius
, "Flora of Central Brazil" by Warming
and "The Botany of German East Africa". Klatt's greatest interest though, lay with the Compositae, and his publications on this family covered German East Africa
, Madagascar
, Australia
, Brazil
, Guatemala
, Colombia
and Costa Rica
. He corresponded with and visited Kew
, exchanged specimens with Asa Gray
and managed to build up a considerable personal collection. In addition to his collection, he made detailed drawings of a large number of the specimens, especially type specimens, that were sent to him for identification.
After Klatt's death, his herbarium specimens were bought by and donated to the Gray Herbarium and the Botanical Institute of the University of Hamburg. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Klatt when citing
a botanical name
.
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
- 3 March 1897 Hamburg, was a German botanist who specialised in the study of African plants.
As a child he showed artistic talent, but for financial reasons training and a career in art could not be followed. In 1854 he and his brother took over the running of a boys' school in Hamburg. He taught there until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
after which he taught natural science at several schools in Hamburg.
His first botanical collections were made in and about Hamburg as well as on the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
coastline. Through his collecting he became acquainted with Professor Lehman of the Hamburg Botanical Gardens, who invited Klatt to organise and run his herbarium. Lehman acted as mentor to Klatt who soon concentrated his attention on the botanical families of Iridaceae
Iridaceae
The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...
and Pittosporaceae
Pittosporaceae
Pittosporaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family includes approximately 200 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in 9-10 genera. The species of Pittosporaceae range from tropical to temperate climates of the Afrotropic, Indomalaya, Oceania, and Australasia ecozones.-Genera:* Auranticarpa...
. His subsequent revision of the Iridaceae "Revisio Iridearum" led to his being awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Rostock
University of Rostock
The University of Rostock is the university of the city Rostock, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.Founded in 1419, it is the oldest and largest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area...
and an offer of a professorship which he declined.
Klatt contributed sections on Iridaceae to several publications - "Conspectus Florae Africae" by Durand v. Schinz, "Flora Brasiliensis" by Martius
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius was a German botanist and explorer.Martius was born at Erlangen, where he graduated M.D. in 1814, publishing as his thesis a critical catalogue of plants in the botanic garden of the university...
, "Flora of Central Brazil" by Warming
Eugenius Warming
Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming , known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology...
and "The Botany of German East Africa". Klatt's greatest interest though, lay with the Compositae, and his publications on this family covered German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. He corresponded with and visited Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
, exchanged specimens with Asa Gray
Asa Gray
-References:*Asa Gray. Dictionary of American Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.*Asa Gray. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.*Asa Gray. Plant Sciences. 4 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2001....
and managed to build up a considerable personal collection. In addition to his collection, he made detailed drawings of a large number of the specimens, especially type specimens, that were sent to him for identification.
After Klatt's death, his herbarium specimens were bought by and donated to the Gray Herbarium and the Botanical Institute of the University of Hamburg. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Klatt when citing
Author citation (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, author citation refers to citing the person who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...
a botanical name
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
.