Hugh Algernon Weddell

Hugh Algernon Weddell ( born June 22, 1819 in Birches House in Painswick, † July 22, 1877 in Poitiers, France) was a British physician and botanist who specialized in the study of South African flora. His botanical author abbreviation is " Wedd. "

Life and work

Weddell was born in Birches House near Gloucester and grew up in France. He studied medicine at the Lycée Henri IV and at the Hôpital Cochin, where he graduated in 1841. He also studied botany and accompanied Adrien Henri Laurent de Jussieu (1797-1853) on numerous botanical expeditions. In 1845 he was next to Ernest Saint -Charles Cosson ( 1819-1889 ) and Jacques Nicolas Ernest Germain de Saint- Pierre ( 1815-1882 ), co-author of the standard work Flore des environs de Paris. In 1843 he accompanied Francis de La Porte de Castelnau to South America where he explored the flora and botanical samples collected until 1847.

In May 1845 Weddell Castelnau's expedition left, who was staying at the time in Paraguay and traveled alone to Peru and Bolivia on. On behalf of the Muséum national d' histoire naturelle he pursued intensive studies on the China bark trees ( cinchona ). The Peruvian bark, is obtained from the quinine, was of great economic importance for the Europeans. Weddell discovered a number of regions where the trees grew and identified no less than fifteen different species of the genus Cinchona ( Rubiaceae ). The seeds, which he sent back to Paris, germinated in the Jardin des Plantes and the plants were used to establish cinchona forests in Java and elsewhere in the East Indies.

In 1847 he married Juana Bolognesi. When he returned to Paris in March 1848, he left his wife in South America. Weddell was given a post as assistant naturalist at the Muséum national d' histoire naturelle, he paused to 1853. In 1851 he made ​​a second trip to South America. Weddell died in July 1877 in Poitiers during the care of his father.

Dedikationsnamen

Several animal and plant species are named after Weddell, including the brown-headed Parakeet ( Aratinga weddellii ), Aristolochia weddellii, Anadoras weddellii, Lophophytum weddellii, Ranunculus weddellii and Solanum weddellii.

Works (selection)

  • Introduction a une flore Analytique descriptive et des environs de Paris. suivie d'un catalog raisonné des plantes de cette région vasculaires. Paris 1842 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.57888
  • Histoire naturelle of Quinquinas, ou monograph genre you Cinchona (1849 ) - monograph on the China bark trees
  • Additions à la flore de l' Amérique du Sud ( 1850) - description of the first trip to South America
  • Voyage dans la Nord de la Bolivie (1853 ) - description of the second trip to South America
  • Chloris andina: essai d'une flore de la region alpine des Cordilleres de l' Amérique du Sud (2 volumes) ( 1855-1861 ) - it covers the sixth part of Francis de La Porte de Castelnau Expédition dans les parties centrals de l ' Amérique du Sud ( 1850-1859 ). doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.217
  • Monograph de la famille the urticees. (1856-1857)
International Plant Names Index Integrated Authority File
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