Christian Ernst Stahl

Christian Ernst Stahl ( born June 21, 1848 in Schiltigheim in Alsace, † December 3, 1919 in Jena ) was a Franco- German botanist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " steel ".

Life and work

Steel studied botany at the University of Strasbourg among others, Pierre -Marie Alexis Millardet, at the University of Halle ( with Anton de Bary ), from 1872 back in Strasbourg, where he had followed de Bary. There in 1874 he became a Dr. phil. doctorate.

After that, he was a research assistant at Julius Sachs at the University of Würzburg, where in 1877 he habilitated for botany. In Würzburg he created his work on the lichens education. In 1877 he was a lecturer and associate professor in 1880 in Strasbourg. 1881 steel received a call to the Chair of Botany at the University of Jena, where he also became director of the botanical garden.

In the winter of 1889/1890 he made a trip to Ceylon and Java. He also undertook a research trip to Mexico.

Steel devoted himself alongside questions about development of fungi and lichens. By introducing experimental methods in ecology steel is considered the founder of the ecophysiology. In this area, he first examined the influence of light on the plants, then the problem of retardant plants against being eaten by animals. He also explored the differential impact of dry and wet locations on the formation of the leaves. Among his most important research, the elucidation of the mycorrhiza of forest trees as part of a symbiosis between fungi and plant roots. Next researched steel the importance of stomata. In addition, steel was one of the pioneers in the study of secondary plant compounds.

For steel more significant later biologists and botanists have studied, so among other things Emmy Stone, Hans Driesch, Julius Schaxel, Johannes Gottfried Hallier, Hans Kniep, Otto Stocker, Henry Walter, Rudolf Aderhold and Max Wolff.

After his death, he was buried at the North Cemetery in Jena.

Writings

  • Development and anatomy of the lenticels. Leipzig 1873.
  • Contributions to the embryology of lichens. Leipzig 1877.
  • About the influence of the direction and intensity of the lighting on some movement phenomena in the plant kingdom. Leipzig 1880.
  • Via so-called Kompaßpflanzen. Jena 1883.
  • About the influence of the sunny or shady location on the formation of true leaves. Jena 1883.
  • Influence of light on the geotropism of some plant organs. Berlin 1884.
  • On the biology of the Myxomycetes. Leipzig 1884.
  • Plants and snails. A biological study of the protective agents of the plants against slugs. Jena, 1888.
Pierre-Marie Alexis Millardet Heinrich Anton de Bary Julius von Sachs Botanischer Garten Jena Silphium laciniatum International Plant Names Index Integrated Authority File
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