Richard Wettstein

Richard Wettstein (30 June 1863 in Vienna – 10 August 1931 in Trins) was an Austrian botanist. His taxonomic system, the Wettstein system, was one of the earliest based on phyletic principles.

Richard Wettstein
Richard Wettstein on a 1927 photo
Born	Anna Weinberg (1863-07-30)30 July 1863 Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	10 August 1931(1931-08-10) (aged 68) Trins, First Austrian Republic
Nationality	Austrian
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Scientific career
Fields	Botany

Wettstein studied in Vienna, where he was a disciple of Anton Kerner von Marilaun (1831-1898) and married his daughter Adele.^[1] During his time at the University of Vienna, he founded the student-led Natural Science Association with his friend Karl Eggerth in 1882.^[2] He was a professor at the University of Prague from 1892, and at the University of Vienna from 1899. He newly laid out the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna.^[3]

In 1901 he became president of the Vienna Zoological-Botanical Society (Zoologisch-Botanische Gesellschaft), and during the same year took part in a scientific expedition to Brazil. In 1919 he was appointed vice-president of the Vienna Academy of Sciences. During his later years (1929–30), he traveled with his son, Friedrich, to eastern and southern Africa.^[4]

The mycological genus Wettsteinina is named in his honor and also Wettsteiniola, which is a genus of flowering plants from Brazil, belonging to the family Podostemaceae, also honor's Richard Wettstein.^[5]

In 1905, he was co-president of the International Botanical Congress, held in Vienna.^[6]

In 1913 Wettstein edited and distributed the last fascicles (specimens no. 3601-4000) of the famous exsiccata work Flora exsiccata Austro-Hungarica, a museo botanico universitatis vindobonensis edita.^[7]

Selected publications

• Nolanaceae, Solanaceae, Scrophulariaceae in (Engler & Prantl 1895, pp. 1–107).
• Grundzüge der geographisch-morphologischen Methode der Pflanzensystematik, 1898 - Basics of geographical-morphological methods of plant systematics.
• Botanik Und Zoologie In Österreich in den Jahren 1850 Bis 1900, 1901 - Botany and zoology in Austria in the years 1850 to 1900.
• Der Neo-Lamarckismus und seine Beziehungen zum Darwinismus, 1903 - Neo-Lamarckism and its relationship to Darwinism.
• Wettstein, Richard (1924). Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik 2 vols (3rd ed.). Vienna: Deuticke. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  • 1st ed. 1901–1908 Vol. I 1901, Vol. II 1908 Deuticke, Vienna
  • 2nd ed. 1910–1911
  • 3rd ed. 1923–1924
  • 4th ed. 1933–1935

See also

• Wettstein system

Notes

References

1. Franz Speta 2000, Warum Otto STAPF (1857-1933) Wien verlassen hat. Phyton (Horn, Austria) 40/1, 89-113
2. Svojtka, Matthias (2009). "Sammler als Wegbereiter naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis – Fallstudien Leopold Johann Nepomuk von Sacher-Masoch (1797-1874) und Karl Eggerth (1861-1888)". Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt. 45: 40–43. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
3. Thomas Maisel. Scholars in Stone and Bronze: The Monuments in the Arcaded Courtyard of the University of Vienna. University of Vienna. Böhlau Verlag Wien 2008. p. 42 Richard Wettstein von Westerheim (1863–1931) botanist, ISBN 9783205782247
4. Ingeborg 2014.
5. "Wettsteiniola Suess. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
6. Stafleu & Cowan 1976–1988, Volume 1. A–G Wettstein von Westerheim, Richard (1863–1931) pp. 221-235
7. "Flora exsiccata Austro-Hungarica, a museo botanico universitatis vindobonensis edita: IndExs ExsiccataID=676642048". IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
8. International Plant Names Index.  Wettst.

Bibliography

• Chamberlain, Charles J. (January 1908). "Wettstein's Handbuch". Botanical Gazette. 45 (1): 58. doi:10.1086/329449. JSTOR 2467403.
• Engler, Adolf; Prantl, Karl, eds. (1895). Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien nebst ihren Gattungen und wichtigeren Arten, insbesondere den Nutzpflanzen, unter Mitwirkung zahlreicher hervorragender Fachgelehrten 1887–1915 IV(3b). Leipzig: W. Engelmann. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
• Ingeborg, Schinnerl (2014). "Wettstein, Richard". Aeiou Encyclopedia (in German and English). Retrieved 15 April 2015.
• Janchen, Erwin (2013) [1933]. Richard Wettstein: Sein Leben und Wirken (in German). Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783709153666. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
• Stafleu, Frans A.; Cowan, Richard S. (1976–1988). Taxonomic literature: a selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types: Taxon. Lit., ed. 2 (TL2) (2nd ed.). Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema. ISBN 90-313-0224-4.