Martinus Houttuyn

Maarten Houttuyn or Houttuijn (1720 – 2 May 1798; Latinised as Martinus Houttuyn) was a Dutch naturalist.

Houttuynia cordata

Maarten Houttuyn
Title page of the first volume of Natuurlijke Historie (1761)
Born	1720 Hoorn, Netherlands
Died	2 May 1798 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Alma mater	University of Leiden
Scientific career
Fields	Pteridophytes Bryophytes Spermatophytes

Houttuyn was born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. He published many books on natural history, e.g. Natuurlyke Historie of uitvoerige Beschryving der Dieren, Planten en Mineraalen, volgens het Samenstel van den Heer Linnaeus, in 37 volumes (1761-1773), following Carl Linnaeus' division into the animal kingdom, the plant kingdom, and the mineral kingdom. His areas of interest encompassed Pteridophytes, Bryophytes and Spermatophytes. He died in Amsterdam. In botanical nomenclature, the standard author abbreviation Houtt. is applied to plants described by him. He is commemorated by the genus Houttuynia, a member of the Saururaceae from China and Japan.

Martinus Houttuyn was the co-writer of the volumes 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Nederlandsche Vogelen.^[1] The first author was Cornelius Nozeman.

References

1. His name appears on the title pages of vol 2 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, vol 3 Archived 2013-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, vol 4 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine and vol 5 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine of Nederlandsche Vogelen.
2. International Plant Names Index.  Houtt.

External links

• 'Houtkunde' – A representation of inland and foreign wood by Martinus Houttuyn, 1773
• ipni.org The International Plant Names Index
• M. Boeseman, W. de Ligny, Martinus Houttuyn (1720–1798) and his contributions to the natural sciences, with emphasis on zoology, Zoologische Verhandelingen 349, 2004, p. 1-222 PDF