Biographical Notes on Southern African Botanical Epithets
Based on Personal Names


Note: Some of the names below with question marks may not in fact be names derived from personal names at all. Further research will illuminate some of these questions. Additional names will be added as they are researched. In the meantime, anyone with any information which can supplement or correct that which is presented here is invited to contact me at mmlcharters[at]calflora.net. I would also like to know about any other Southern African botanical epithets derived from people's names that I have not included. In the following list, generic names are followed by family names in parentheses, and specific names are followed by genus and family names in parentheses. Southern Africa includes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, but most of these taxa are present in South Africa proper. Not all entries have been identified as to source, but the majority are from Umberto Quattrocchi's excellent 4-volume work CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names, for which I thank him greatly. I also express gratitude to David Hollombe who has applied the same expertise that has improved my California Plant Names website to this one. I am indebted as well to Professor Leonard Newton, the co-author of Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names, who very kindly took time to go over the names of succulents in this compilation and wrote from Kenya with many valuable additions and corrections.



Abildgaardia (Cyperaceae): honors the Danish zoologist and veterinarian Peder Christian Abildgaard (1740-1801), founder of the Royal Veterinary College at Christianshavn in 1770 and thus the father of Danish veterinary medicine.

Achillea (Asteraceae): named for Achilles, who supposedly used plants of the genus to staunch the wounds of his soldiers at the siege of Troy.

Adansonia (Bombaceae): named for French surgeon and naturalist of Scottish descent Michel Adanson (1727-1806). Adanson was born at Aix-en-Provence. His family moved to Paris on 1730. After leaving the College Sainte Barbe he was employed in the cabinets of R. A. F. Reaumur and Bernard de Jussieu, as well as in the Jardin des Plantes. At the end of 1748 he left France on an exploring expedition to Senegal. He remained there for five years, collecting and describing numerous animals and plants. He also collected specimens of every object of commerce, delineated maps of the country, made systematic meteorological and astronomical observations, and prepared grammars and dictionaries of the languages spoken on the banks of the Senegal. After his return to Paris in 1754 he made use of a small portion of the materials he had collected in his Histoire naturelle du Senegal (1757). This work has a special interest from the essay on shells, printed at the end of it, where Adanson proposed his universal method, a system of classification distinct from those of Buffon and Linnaeus. He founded his classification of all organized beings on the consideration of each individual organ. As each organ gave birth to new relations, so he established a corresponding number of arbitrary arrangements. Those beings possessing the greatest number of similar organs were referred to one great division, and the relationship was considered more remote in proportion to the dissimilarity of organs. In 1763 he published his Familles naturelles des plantes. In this work he developed the principle of arrangement above mentioned, which, in its adherence to natural botanical relations, was based on the system of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, and had been anticipated to some extent nearly a century before by John Ray. The success of this work was hindered by its innovations in the use of terms, which were ridiculed by the defenders of the popular sexual system of Linnaeus; but it did much to open the way for the establishment, by means principally of Antoine Laurent de Jussieu's Genera Plantarum (1789), of the natural method of the classification of plants. In 1774 Adanson submitted to the consideration of the French Academy of Sciences an immense work, extending to all known beings and substances. It consisted of 27 large volumes of manuscript, employed in displaying the general relations of all these matters, and their distribution; 150 volumes more, occupied with the alphabetical arrangement of 40,000 species; a vocabulary, containing 200,000 words, with their explanations; and a number of detached memoirs, 40,000 figures and 30,000 specimens of the three kingdoms of nature. The committee to which the inspection of this enormous mass was entrusted strongly recommended Adanson to separate and publish all that was pecu-
liarly his own, leaving out what was merely compilation. He obstinately rejected this advice; and the huge work, at which he continued to labour, was never published. He had been elected a member of the Acad-
emy of Sciences in 1759, and he latterly subsisted on a small pension it had conferred on him. Of this he was deprived in the dissolution of the Academy by the Constituent Assembly, and was consequently reduced to such a depth of poverty as to be unable to appear before the French Institute when it invited him to take his place among its members. Afterwards he was granted a pension sufficient to relieve his simple wants. He died at Paris after months of severe suffering, requesting, as the only decoration of his grave, a garland of flowers gathered from the fifty-eight families he had differentiated - "a touching though transitory image," says Georges Cuvier, "of the more durable monument which he has erected to himself in his works." (Wikipedia)

Adonis (Ranunculaceae): named for Adonis, in Greek mythology a beautiful young man who was beloved of Persephone and Aphrodite.

Afrotysonia (Boraginaceae): for the Jamaican-born South African botanist William Tyson (1851-1920), plant collector, teacher and Fellow of the Linnaean Society.

Afzelia (Fabaceae): named in honor of the Swedish botanist and pupil of Linnaeus Adam Afzelius of Uppsala (1750-1837), who lived in Somalia. Afzelius was born at Larv in Westrogothia. He was appointed teacher of oriental languages at Uppsala University in 1777, and in 1785 demonstrator of botany. From 1792 he spent some years on the west coast of Africa, and in 1797-1798 acted as secretary of the Swedish embassy in London. Returning to Sweden, he again took up his position as botanical demonstrator at Uppsala, and was in 1802 elected president of the "Zoophytolithic Society" (later called the Linnaean Institute). In 1812, he became professor of materia medica at the university. He died in Uppsala. In addition to various botani-
cal writings, he published the autobiography of Carolus Linnaeus in 1823. His brother, Johan Afzelius (1753-1837) was professor of chemistry at Uppsala; and another brother, Pehr von Afzelius (1760-1843; the "von" was added when he was ennobled), who became professor of medicine at Uppsala in 1801, was distinguished as a medical teacher and practitioner. (Wikipedia)

Alberta (Rubiaceae): Alberta magna was named by Ernst Heinrich Meyer, who was a lecturer in medicine at the University of Gottingen and an associate professor of botany in Koningsberg. He named the genus Alberta and one species, magna in honour of Albertus Magnus, whose real name was Graf von Bollstädt, a famous German philosopher or theologian who lived between the 12th and 13th century and wrote De vegetabilus, a botanical work in seven volumes. (PlantzAfrica)

Albertisia (Menispermaceae): commemorates Count Luigi Maria d'Albertis (1841-1901), an Italian zoologist-ethnographer.

Albizia (Fabaceae): honors an Italian nobleman named Filippo degli Albizzi who introduced Albizia julibrissin into Europe from Constaninople around 1749. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Alchornea (Euphorbiaceae): named for the English botanist Stanesby Alchorne (1727-1800), a plant collector and worker at the Chelsea Physic Garden.

Alciope (Asteraceae): named for a nymph in Greek mythology.

Aldrovanda (Droseraceae): after the Italian botanist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), pharmacologist, naturalist, plant collector, doctor of medicine, and Director of the Botanical Garden of Bologna, one of the first in Europe. He was considered by Linnaeus as the father of natural history studies. He had vast collections of botanical and zoological specimens.

Allenia (Malvaceae): honors the South African botanist Robert Allen Dyer (1900-1987), Director of the Botanical Research Institute in Pretoria. [Now in genus Radyera]

Alonsoa (Scrophulariaceae): named for Cenón (or Zenón) Alonso Acosta Zorilla y Dávila (1756-?), a Spanish government official. (Ruiz and Pavon, "Systema Vegtabilium Florae Peruvianae et Chilensis," 1798)

altensteinii (Encephalartos/Zamiaceae): named after Baron von Stein zum Altenstein, a statesman at the court of King Fredrick William 3 rd of Prussia, by Lehmann in 1834. (PlantzAfrica)

Althenia (Zannichelliaceae): dedicated to Jean Althen (1709-1774), author of Mémoire sur la culture de la garance, Persian agronomist, who developed in France the cultivation of madder. Although the plant had been present in the region before his arrival, it was Althen who developed its cultivation, turning it into an industry. In 1754, he arrived in Avignon where he started experimenting with the cultivation of madden. Associated with a local landlord, Clauseau Aïné, he produced a crop of 2500 kg (5500 lbs) in 1769. Poor business decisions led to financial problems, and he died in poverty in 1774. A French commune, Althen-des-Paluds, is named after him, as well as statues and streets in several cities of the south of France.

Ammannia (Lythraceae): honors the German physician Paul Ammann (1634-1691), botanist and professor at the University of Leipzig.

Amsinckia (Boraginaceae): named for German botanist Wilhelm Amsinck (1752-1831).

Andreaea (Andreaeaceae): Named for an apothecary and chemist of Hanover, Johann Gerhard Reinhard Andrea (1724-1793). "He was born in Hannover, the son of a pharmacist. After training in a Frankfurt pharmacy, he studied in Leiden and England. Returning to Hannover, he took over his father's pharmacy. He did field work in Switzerland and became interested in chemistry and mineralogy, describing 300 types of soils. Besides natural history, he read great literature in various languages, especially loved the English poets, and was a fine pianist. Friedrich Ehrhart, with whom he worked, named this genus after him." (from the online Guide to the Bryophytes of Colorado by William A. Weber) He was appointed to the royal court of Hannover and his work on soils was performed with an eye to determining which would be best for certain kinds of agriculture. Apparently met and befriended Benjamin Franklin on his visit to Hannover.

Ansellia (Orchidaceae): named after the British plant collector John Ansell (?-1847), gardener and assistant botanist on Capt. Allen's Niger expedition in 1841.

Aongstroemia (Dicranaceae): ???

Araujia (Apocynaceae): named for the Portuguese Antonio de Araujo de Azevedo (1784-1817), patron of botany, count of Barca. Portuguese statesman. After cooperating in the establishment of the academy of sciences at Lisbon, he represented his government in Holland, France, Prussia, and Russia. He was first minister of John VI., whom he followed to Brazil in 1807. There he was minister of the navy and of foreign affairs, and took great interest in promoting education and industry. He taught the Brazilians how to manu-
facture porcelain, made special studies and experiments in his own splendid botanical garden, as well as the first trials for the acclimatization and culture of the tea-plant in Brazil, and was the founder of a school of fine arts. His works include two tragedies and a translation of Virgil's pastorals. (Virtualology.com)

Arethusa (Orchidaceae): named for a mythological wood nymph named Arethusa, who was changed into a stream by Artemis. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Arrowsmithia (Asteraceae): ???

Artemisia (Asteraceae): referring to the Greek goddess Artemis who so benefitted from a plant of this family that she gave it her own name. This was also the old Latin name given to the mugwort or worm-
woods. An alternative possibility for the derivation of this name is that it comes from Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor (Turkey), sister and wife of King Mausolus, who ruled after his death from 352 to 350 B.C.E. and built during her short reign one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which she unfortunately did not live to see the completion of.

Asclepias (Apocynaceae): honors the Greek God of medicine.

Astridia (Mesembryanthemaceae): commemorates a certain Mrs. Gustav Schwantes (née Astrid Elise Wilberg), wife of the German botanist Gustav Schwantes (1891-1960), archeologist and professor of pre-history. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Audouinia (Bruniaceae): named for French naturalist, entomologist and ornithologist Jean Victoire Audouin (1797-1841).

Augea (Zygophyllaceae): honors the German gardener and naturalist Johann Andreas Auge (1711-1805), botanical collector who died in the Cape Provinc. He was a participant of a land expedition from the Cape Colony to Namibia from July 1761 to April 1762. The expedition consisted of its leader Hendrik Hop, Surveyor Carel Frederik Brink, Johan Auge, Surgeon Carel Christoffel Rijkvoet, scout Jacobus Coetzee and twelve other Cape burghers, as well as 68 Basters [descendants of liaisons between the Cape Colony Dutch and indigenous African women. They largely live in Namibia and are similar to oloured or Griqua people in South Africa. The name Baster is derived from the Dutch word for ‘mixed race’ or ‘crossbreed'.] They crossed the Oranje River on Sep. 29, 1761, visited Warmbad, travelled northwards up to the Xamob (present-day Löwen) River, and turned back on Dec. 9, 1761. On Feb. 9, 1762, they crossed the Oranje River on their way back. He died in 1805. (Biographies of Namibian Personalities)

Bachmannia (Capparaceae): named for the German naturalist and physician Franz Ewald Bachmann (1856-c. 1916). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

bachmannii (Thamnochortus/Restionaceae): the species 'bachmannii' is named after a Dr. F.E. Bachmann who collected several new species on the Sandveld along the West Coast, while he practised medicine in Darling and Hopefield from 1883–1887. (PlantzAfrica)

Baikiaea (Fabaceae): honors the Scottish doctor and naturalist William Balfour Baikie (1825-1864), Royal Navy surgeon, plant collector, explorer and philologist, surgeon and naturalist (and then commander) on the Niger expedition of 1854. He also led a second expedition to the Niger in 1857 and established a settlement there.

Baillonella (Sapotaceae): named after the French botanist Henri Ernest Baillon (1827-1895), a professor of natural history at the Faculté de Médecine, Paris, and author of numerous botanical works.

bainesii (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): this plant was first discovered by Mary Elizabeth Barber, who was a plant collector in the former Transkei. She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where it was named by Dyer (1874) in her honour. Subsequently it was also found in the Tugela River Valley (KwaZulu-Natal) by the well known traveller, explorer and painter Mr. Thomas Baines in 1873. He sent a specimen to Joseph Hooker at Kew, where it was named in his honour. Although known for many years as Aloe bainesii, Aloe barberae was the name first given to this plant, and takes precedence according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. (PlantzAfrica). There is today a Thomas Baines Nature Preserve in the Eastern Cape. "Baines was an English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia. Born in King's Lynn in Norfolk, United Kingdom, Baines was apprenticed to a coach painter at an early age. When he was 22 he left England for South Africa and worked for a while in Cape Town as a scenic and portrait artist, and as a sniper[citation needed] for the British Army. In 1855 Baines joined Augustus Gregory’s 1855–1857 Royal Geographical Society sponsored expedition across northern Australia as official artist and storekeeper. The expedition’s purpose was to explore the Victoria River district in the north-west and to evaluate the entire northern area of Australia in terms of its suitability for colonial settlement. His association with the North Australian Expedition was the highpoint of his career, and he was warmly commended for his contribution to it, to the extent that Mount Baines and the Baines River were named in honour of him. In 1858 Baines accompanied David Livingstone along the Zambezi, and was one of the first white men to view Victoria Falls. In 1869 Baines led one of the first gold prospecting expeditions to Mashonaland in what later became Rhodesia. In 1870 Baines was granted a concession to explore for gold between the Gweru and Hunyani rivers by Lobengula, leader of the Matabele nation. Thomas Baines died in Durban in 1875. Baines is today best known for his detailed paintings and sketches which give a unique insight into colonial life in southern Africa and Australia. Many of his pictures are held by the National Library of Australia, National Archives of Zimbabwe, National Maritime Museum, Brenthurst Library and the Royal Geographical Society." (Wikipedia)

Baissea (Apocynaceae): honors an 18th century Jesuit father named Sarrabat also known as de la Baisse who conducted experiments on having living plants suck up colored fluids.

Ballya (Commelinaceae): named after the Swiss botanist Peter René Oscar Bally (1895-1980), a taxonomist and plant collector in Kenya and Tanganyika (now Tanzania) who died in Nairobi. He was also head of the herbarium of Coryndon National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya, 1938–1958.

barbarae (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): this plant was first discovered by Mary Elizabeth Barber, who was a plant collector in the former Transkei. She sent specimens of the plant and its flowers to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where it was named by Dyer (1874) in her honour. Subsequently it was also found in the Tugela River Valley (KwaZulu-Natal) by the well known traveller, explorer and painter Mr. Thomas Baines in 1873. It is often called Baine's aloe (Aloe bainesii) but according to the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature, her name takes precedence.

Barbarea (Brassicaceae): dedicated to Saint Barbara, patron of artillerymen and miners, and an early Christian martyr. According to legend, St. Barbara was beheaded by her own father, a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, for expressing a belief in Christ.

barbeyi (Cotyledon/Crassulaceae): the species name 'barbeyi' was given after William Barbey (1842-1914), a Swiss philanthropist and botanist.

Barleria (Acanthaceae): named after Jacques Barrelier (1606-1673), Dominican monk and botanist.

Barnardiella (Iridaceae): honors the English anthropologist Thomas Theodore Barnard (1898-1983), plant collector and Fellow of the Linnaean Society.

Barrowia (Apocynaceae): named for English statesman Sir John Barrow (1764-1848) who was at the Cape from 1797 to 1804. He also travelled extensively in China and was a major promoter of Arctic voyages of exploration, including those of John Ross, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross, and John Franklin.

Bartholina (Orchidaceae): commemorates the Danish anatomist Thomas Bartholin (1616-1680), physician, physiologist, mathematician, theologian and professor of anatomy at Copenhagen. He was one of the original discoverers of the lymphatic system in humans. Twelve members of his family became professors at the University of Copenhagen. He revised and illustrated a seminal work by his father Caspar Bartholin which became the standard reference on anatomy. He also became the physician to King Christian V of Denmark.

Bartramia (Tiliaceae): named for John Bartram (1699-1777), the noted American botanist called by Linnaeus the greatest natural botanist in the world. He founded the 12 acre Bartram Botanical Gardens near Philadenphia, said to be the first in America, and he was one of the co-founders, along with Benjamin Franklin, of the American Philosophical Society in 1742. He was particularly noted for sending seeds of American trees and plants to Europe. He was made Royal Botanist by George III in 1765, a position which he held until his death.

Bartsia (Scrophulariaceae): honors the Dutch botanist and physician Johann Bartsch (1709-1738), who died in Suriname, where he had been sent by fellow Dutchman Hermann Boerhaave at the recommendation of Carolus Linnaeus. He was the author of Thesis de Calore Corporis Humani hygraulico.

Bassia (Chenopodiaceae): named for the Italian botanist and naturalist Ferdinando Bassi (1710-1774), Prefect of the Bologna Botanical Garden.

batesiana (Gasteria/Asphodelaceae): commemorates a Mr. John Bates, a trolley bus conductor in London and a keen collector of South African succulents, and was described by Mr. Gordon Rowley in the National Cactus and Succulent Journal in 1960, a well known succulent author living near Reading, England. (PlantzAfrica)

batteniana (Albuca/Hyacinthaceae): the specific epithet 'batteniana' was given in honor of Auriol Ursula Batten, a botanical artist who has contributed many illustrations in publications. Auriol Batten graduated with a B.Sc in Botany at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. She also studied art at the Durban Technical College. She settled in East London after her marriage and started painting wild flowers. (PlantzAfrica)

baueri (Erica/Ericaceae): Ericas also became favorite subjects for botanical artists resulting in several important works on the genus. In one of these, H.C. Andrews's "Heathery," published in 1805, Andrews depicted Erica baueri for the first time. He named it after his fellow artist at Kew, Francis Bauer (1758-1810), who was botanical artist to King George III. (PlantzAfrica)

Bauhinia (Fabaceae): the genus Bauhinia was established by Linnaeus in 1753 and commemorates the brothers Gaspard (or Caspar) (1560-1624) and Johann (or Jean) Bauhin (1541-1613) , both botanists and herbalists, the characteristic paired leaves being a reflection of their relationship. "Gaspard Bauhin introduced binomial nomenclature into taxonomy, which was much later taken up by Linnaeus. Bauhin's work, Pinax theatri botanici (1596), was the first to use this convention for naming of species. He also worked on human anatomical nomenclature. His brother, Johann Bauhin, or Jean Bauhin, was also a physician and botanist. Jean and Gaspard were the sons of Jean Bauhin (1511-1582), a French physician who had to leave his native country on becoming a convert to Protestantism. Gaspard was born at Basel and studied medicine at Padua, Montpellier, and in Germany. Returning to Basel in 1580, he was admitted to the degree of doctor, and gave private lectures in botany and anatomy. In 1582 he was appointed to the Greek professorship in that university, and in 1588 to the chair of anatomy and botany. He was later made city physician, professor of the practice of medicine, rector of the university, and dean of his faculty. In addition to Pinax Theatri Botanici, Gaspard planned another work, a Theatrum Botanicum, meant to be comprised in twelve parts folio, of which he finished three; only one, however, was published (1658). He also gave a copious catalogue of the plants growing in the environs of Basel, and edited the works of Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577) with considerable additions. His principal work on anatomy was Theatrum Anato-
micum infinitis locis auctum
(1592). (Wikipedia) "Johann studied botany at Tübingen under Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566). He then travelled with Conrad Gessner, after which he started a practise of medicine at Basel, where he was elected Professor of Rhetoric in 1566. Four years later he was invited to become physician to Duke Frederick I of Württemberg at Montbéliard, where he remained until his death. He devoted himself chiefly to botany. His great work, Historia plantarum universalis, a compilation of all that was then known about botany, was incomplete at his death, but was published at Yverdon in 1650-1651." (Answers.com)

Baynesia (Apocynaceae): likely named after the Baynes Mountains of northern Namibia and not after a person.

Beckeropsis (Poaceae): named for German botanist Johannes Becker (1769-1833).

Begonia (Begoniaceae): named after the French patron of botany Michel Bégon de la Picardière (1638-1710), Governor of French Canada and Santo Domingo (Haiti). The name was given by Charles Plumier, a botanist from France who crossed the Atlantic Ocean to visit and study these flowers which grew abundantly in Haiti.(CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Behnia (Philesiaceae): possibly named after Wilhelm Friedrich Georg Behn (1808-1878), director of the zoological museum at Kiel, friend and companion of Danish botanist Didrik Ferdinand Didrichsen (1814-1887). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Beilschmiedia (Lauraceae): honors German botanist and apothecary Carl (Karl) Traugott Beilschmied (1793-1848).

Bellardia (Scrophulariaceae): after the Italian botanist Carlo Antonio Lodovico Bellardi (1741-1826).

Berardia (Bruniaceae): ???

Berchemia (Rhamnaceae): the generic name, Berchemia, was derived from a French botanist, M. Berchem. (PlantzAfrica)

Bergeranthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): honors the German botanist and horticulturist Alwin Berger (1871-1931), authority on Cactaceae and Superintendent of the Hanbury Garden in La Mortola, Italy. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Bergia (Elatinaceae): named after the Swedish physician and botanist Peter Jonas Bergius (1730-1790), plant collector, pupil of Linnaeus, and was appointed professor of natural history and pharmacy at the Collegium Medicum in Stockholm in 1761. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Berkheya (Asteraceae): Berkheyas are often thistle-like. Of the 75 species in the genus, about 71 species are indigenous to South Africa. The German botanist Ehrhart founded the genus Berkheya in 1788, and named it in honor of the Dutch botanist (and physician?), Jan le Francq van Berkhey (1729-1812). (PlantzAfrica)

Berrisfordia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for a Mr. G. Berrisford.

Berzelia (Bruniaceae): Berzelia was named in honor of Count Jacob J. Berzelius (1779-1845), a renowned Swedish chemist who was the founder of chemical symbols and was also a professor of medicine. (PlantzAfrica)

Bewsia (Poaceae): dedicated to the Scottish ecologist John William Bews (1884-1938), professor of botany at Natal University College in South Africa, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and author of The World's Grasses.

Bignonia (Bignoniaceae): named after Abbé Jean Paul Bignon (1662-1743), librarian to King Louis XIV. "The Abbé Jean-Paul Bignon was Royal Librarian at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France from 1718 to 1741, and brought the institution to its glorious zenith. The Bibliotheque had been set up in 1368 by Charles V, 'the Wise', who had moved his personal library of some 917 manuscripts into the Louvre to be cared for by the then Guardian Gilles Malet. The Bibliotheque was moved several times around France, growing in size and diversity under the auspices of several key librarians including the statesman Colbert, who moved the collection to the Paris quarter where it still resides. By the time Bignon arrived in 1719 the library, now the Bibliotheque du Roi, had become the leading library in Europe. The number of volumes it carried had outgrown the most immediate database system of the time, in that the librarians could no longer rely on their memories to find titles. Bignon expanded on the classification system of his predecessor Nicolas Clement - who had divided printed material into 23 categories - by organising the library into five departments, covering Manuscripts, Printed Books, Titles and Genealogy, Engraved Plates and Prints, Medals and Stone Engravings. Bignon made great efforts to add to the library by attempting to procure the major works of European scholars. He also took the unprecedented step of opening the library to the public, but only for three hours one day of the week. Not least by imitating the opening times of some modern libraries, the Abbe established himself as truly being a man ahead of his time." (Digital Handbook of Library Science)

Bijlia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for Paul Andries van der Byl (Bijl) (1888-1939), a collector of succulents. He was on the staff of the Division of Plant Pathology in Pretoria, then in 1918 he was transferred to Durban as officer in charge of the Botanic Station and Natal Herbarium, to work on diseases of sugar-cane and other tropical crops. In 1921 he was appointed Professor of Phytopathology in the newly formed Agricultural Faculty of Stellenbosch University, the first professor in this subject in South Africa, and built his department up from scratch to a leading place for teaching and research in phytopathology and mycology. He was the first professor of plant pathology in South Africa, and his department was also the first department of plant pathology in the British Commonwealth. In 1928 he became principal of the Stellenbosch Elsenburg Agricultural College, a post he held until his death. During his career he established one of the most extensive lichen collections ever obtained in South Africa, and after his death, the P.A. Van Der Bijl Herbarium was merged with the National Collection of Fungi (PREM). In 1928 he also published the first South African book dealing with diseases of plants. (South African Society of Plant Pathology and CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Since I wrote this I have heard from Leonard Newton, co-author of Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names who said that he was "under the impression that this genus was named for Mrs. Deborah van der Bijl (1872-1942) [wife of Paul Andries?] , founder and first president of the South African Succulent Society in 1931. She collected plants and sent them to, among others, Dr. N.E. Brown, author of the name Bijlia." So this remains uncertain at the moment pending further confirmation one way or the other.

Blackwellia (Samydaceae): honors the Scottish botanist Elizabeth Blackwell (1707-1758), the first British female herbalist and among the first women to achieve fame as a botanical illustrator. She was artist and engraver for A Curious Herbal which contained illustrations of many odd-looking unfamiliar plants froom the New World. She undertook this job in order to raise funds to secure the release of her husband Alexander Blackwell from debtor's prison. Unfortunately her husband's story did not have a happy ending for after leaving his family and relocating to Sweden, he became involved in a political conspiracy, and was arrested and hanged.

Blaeria (Ericaceae): ???

Blainvillea (Asteraceae): named after the French biologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), zoologist, physician, paleobiologist, and professor of zoology, comparative anatomy and physiology. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Blighia (Sapindaceae): honors British mariner William Bligh (1754-1817), navigator, sailing master on Captain James Cook's 2nd voyage, captain of the Bounty and Governor of New South Wales.

Blotiella (Dennstaedtiaceae): dedicated to the French botanist and physician Marie-Laure Tardieu-Blot (1902- ), pteridologist and plant collector. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Blumea (Asteraceae): named after the Dutch botanist Karl Ludwig von Blume (1796-1862), physician, traveller, plant collector, Director of the Botanic Gardens at Buitenzorg, Superintendent of the Leyden Rijksherbarium. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Bobartia (Iridaceaea): honors the German botanist Jacob Bobart (1599-1680), the first Horti Praefectus (Superintendent) of the Oxford Physic Garden. His son, Jacob Bobart the Younger (1641-1719), suceeded his father as Horti Praefectus and became acting Professor of Botany at Oxford.

Boeckeleria (Cyperaceae): commemorates Johann Otto Boeckeler (1803-1899). (David Hollombe)

Boeckhia (Restionaceae): ???

Boehmeria (Urticaceae): named for the German botanist and physician Georg(e) Rudolf Boehmer (1723-1803), professor of botany and anatomy at the University of Wittenberg.

Boerhavia (Nyctaginaceae): honors Dutch physician and botanist Herman Boerhaave (1668-1739), professor of botany and medicine, and one of the most influential clinicians and scientific educators of the 18th century. He published numerous works describing new species of plants. He was also skilled in chemistry. His work greatly increased the fame of the University of Leiden, where the operating theatre in which he once worked as an anatomist is now at the center of a museum named after him; the Boerhaave Museum.

Boivinella (Sapotaceae): for the French botanist Louis Hyacinthe Boivin (1808-1852), plant collector on the islands of the Indian Ocean and the coasts of Africa, the Canary Islands and Madagascar.

Bolusafra (Fabaceae): see next entry.

Bolusanthus (Fabaceae): honors Harry Bolus (1834 to 1911), South African botanist and founder of the Cape Town Bolus Herbarium. "Harry Bolus April 28, 1834 - May 25, 1911 was a South African botanist and businessman. He advanced botany in South Africa by establishing bursaries, founding the Bolus Herbarium and bequeathing his library and a large part of his fortune to the South African College. Active in scientific circles, he was a Fellow of the Linnean Society, member and president of the SA Philosophical Society (later the Royal Society of SA), awarded the SA Medal and Grant by the SA Association for the Advancement of Science and an honorary D.Sc. from the University of the Cape of Good Hope. Volume 121 of Curtis's Botanical Magazine was dedicated to him. He is commemorated in five genera: Bolusia, Bolusafra, Neobolusia, Bolusanthus and Bolusiella, as well as numerous specific names. Bolus was born in Nottingham, England. He was educated at Castle Gate School, Nottingham. The headmaster George Herbert regularly corresponded with and received plant specimens from William Kensit of Grahamstown, South Africa. Kensit requested that the headmaster send him one of his pupils as an assistant; Harry Bolus duly landed at Port Elizabeth from the ship Jane in March 1850. He spent two years with Kensit and then moved to Port Elizabeth. Following a short visit to England, he settled in Graaff-Reinet, where he would live for the next 19 years. In 1857 he married Sophia Kensit, the sister of William Kensit. Between 1858 and 1870 they had 3 sons and a daughter. In 1864 he lost his eldest son, and Francis Guthrie who had become a close friend, suggested his taking up botany to ameliorate his loss. He started his botanical collection in 1865 and was soon corresponding with Joseph Hooker at Kew, William Henry Harvey in Dublin and Peter MacOwan in Grahamstown. In 1875 he joined his brother Walter in Cape Town, where they founded a stockbroking firm. The following year he and Guthrie made their first visit to Kew, taking with them a large number of plant specimens for naming. Returning in the Windsor Castle in October 1876, the ship struck a reef off Dassen Island with the loss of his specimens and notes. Not daunted, he set about the collection of new specimens and organised expeditions to various corners of South Africa. He was an excellent field botanist and published numerous books on his observations. Although adventurous by nature, he was also quiet and unassuming. His business flourished so that many fine botanical books came into his possession. Complete sets of the Botanical Magazine, Botanical Register, Refugium Botanicum, and the large folios of Redout‚ Jacquim, Bauer and Masson formed part of his collection. He founded the Harry Bolus Profess-
orship at the Cape University and left a large trust for scholarships. He also donated his extensive herbarium and library to the South African College. He was one of the founding Members of the South African Philosophical Society. Harry Bolus died at Oxford, Surrey, on the 25th of May, 1911." (Wikipedia)

Bolusia (Fabaceae): see previous entry.

Bolusiella (Orchidaceae): see previous entry.

Bonamia (Convolvulaceae): honors the French physician and botanist François Bonamy (1710-1786).

Bonatea (Orchidaceae): described by the German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1805, and named after Guiseppe Antonio Bonato (1753-1836), who was professor of botany at Padua in Italy. (PlantzAfrica)

Borbonia (Lauraceae): ???

Borreria (Rubiaceae): named for the British botanist William J. Borrer, the Elder (1781-1862), horticulturist, plant collector, Fellow of the Royal Society and the Linnaean Society, and author of English Botany. He was a friend of Sir Joseph Banks and Sir William Hooker, and was widely considered as the father of British lichenology.

Boschia (Bombaceae): the genus name honors a French professor of agriculture, Louis A.G. Bosc (1777-
1850). (PlantzAfrica)

Boscia (Capparaceae): for the French botanist and horticulturist Louis Auguste Guillaume Bosc (1759-1828).

Bouchea (Verbenaceae): honors German gardener Carl David Bouché (1809-1881), botanist at the Berlin Botanical Garden.

Bowiea (Hyacinthaceae): named after the British botanist and plant collector James Bowie (1789-1869), one of the botanists sent to the Cape by Sir Joseph Banks to collect plants for Kew Gardens.

bowiea (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): the specific name 'bowiea' honors James Bowie (see previous entry).

bowkeri (Bauhinia/Fabaceae): this species was first collected by Colonel James Henry Bowker (1822-1900), a farmer and soldier, but also a naturalist and an authority on butterflies, who collected the specimen near Fort Bowker on the Mbashe River in the Eastern Cape.

Bowkeria (Scrophulariaceae): this genus was named for the above-mentioned Colonel James Henry Bowker and his artist sister Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Barber (1818-1899).

Brackenridgea (Ochnaceae): named for the Scottish born American nurseryman and horticulturist William Dunlop Brackenridge (1810-1893). He was the naturalist and botanist on the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842 led by Commodore Charles Wilkes.

Brasenia (Cabombaceae): "Derivation obscure, apparently from the plant's name in Guiana." Most references indicate derivation obscure. Rafinesque in 1828 said, "from a German botanist, Brasen," with no further details. However, James S. Pringle in a 1995 article in Sida, Contributions to Botany ("Possible Eponomy of the Generic Name Brasenia") suggests that there is good circumstantial evidence that the name does honor Christoph Brasen (1738-1774), a Danish surgeon and leader of the 1771 missionary expedition that established the Moravian mission of Nain on the coast of Labrador the purpose of which was to convert the Inuit residents there to Christianity, and served as its first superintendent. He died in 1774 when on the return trip a storm struck the exploratory voyage he was undertaking to explore the northern Labrador coast and establish a second mission post. The genus was named by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber who was a professor of natural history and director of the botanical garden at Erlangen, Bavaria. He was familiar with the Moravians and frequently received collected plant specimens from them. Brasen is known to have collected botanical specimens in Labrador and had developed a reputation for being "knowledgeable in botany." Although no direct provable link has been uncovered between Brasen and von Schreber, it is highly likely that upon hearing of the former's death, the suggestion was made that an honorific name be granted to some taxon on his behalf.

Braunia (Hedwigiaceae): ???

Braunsia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for German entomologist and physician Dr. Hans H.J.C. Brauns (1857-1929).

Brayulinia (Amaranthaceae): named for the American botanists Edwin Burton Uline (1867-1933) and William L. Bray (1865-1953), students of the Amaranthaceae. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Breonadia (Rubiaceae): possibly named for Jean Nicholas Bréon (1785-1864), a palnt collector in Mauritius. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Breweria (Convolvulaceae): after the British botanist William Brewer (1670-1743).

Brianhuntleya (Mesembryanthemaceae): named after Professor Brian Huntley (1944- ), head of South Africa's Botanical Research Institute.

Bridelia (Phyllanthaceae): named for the Swiss botanist Samuel Elisée von Bridel (1761-1828), bryologist, poet and librarian, author of Bryologia universa. He studied at the University of Lausanne and later went to Gotha (Thuringia, Germany), where he taught the sovereign’s children, princes August and Friedrich von Sachsen-Gotha. He was one of the foremost bryological leaders of his time, and also published the to-volume work entitled Muscologia recentiorum. Most of his moss herbarium was acquired by the Botanical Museum of Berlin and fortunately escaped destruction during an air raid in World War II.

broomii (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): the species is named after the well known South African anthropologist Robert Broom (1866-1951), the first collector. He was a physician and paleontologist, also a Professor of Geology at Victoria College, Stellenbosch. In 1934 Broom joined the staff of the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, and made a succession of spectacular finds including fragments from six hominids in Sterkfontien, later classified as an adult australopithecine. His most famous discovery was an Australopithecus Robustus. (EMuseum @ Minnesota State University)

Brothera (Dicranaceae): ???

Brownanthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): honors the British botanist Nicholas Edward Brown (1849-1934), an expert on African plants with an honorary doctorate from Witwatersrand University who never visited Africa.

Brownleea (Orchidaceae): named for the English botanist Rev. John Brownlee (1791-1871), who was a gardener, theologian and missionary in South Africa.

Bruchia (Bruchiaceae): ???

Bruguiera (Rhizophoraceae): the genus name commemorates Jean Guillaume Bruguiere(s) (1750–1798), botanical artist and plant collector, who was sent by the French government to Madagascar, Mauritius, Rodrigues and Kerguelen Islands, and collected at the Cape in 1792. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names).

Brunia (Bruniaceae): the genus Brunia is most likely named after a contemporary of Linnaeus, the apothecary, Dr. Cornelius Brun, who travelled in Russia and the Levant, although it could also be in commemoration of Dr. Alexander Brown, a ship's surgeon and plant collector who worked in the East Indies around 1690. (PlantzAfrica, CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Brunsvigia (Amaryllidaceae): the name Brunsvigia was first published in 1755 by Lorenz Heisters, a botanist and professor of medicine at the University of Helmstädt. It honors Karl [Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand (1713-1780), Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg, patron of the arts and sciences], the Sovereign of Braunschweig, who promoted the study of plants, including the beautiful Cape species B. orientalis. (PlantzAfrica)

Buchenroedera (Fabaceae): ???

Buchnera (Scrophulariaceae): the CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names says, "presumably named in honor of the German naturalist Johann Gottfried Buchner (1695-1749), or after the physician Andreas Elias Buchner (1701-1769, a German naturalist."

Buddleja (Buddlejaceae): the genus is named after the Rev. Adam Buddle (1660-1715), an English rector and botanist. (PlantzAfrica)

buhrii (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): the species name 'buhrii' was derived from Elias Buhr, a farmer from the Nieuwoudtville, who first collected it. (PlantzAfrica)

Bulliarda (Crassulaceae): commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste François Bulliard (1752-1793), naturalist and author of Flora parisiensis.

Bunburia (Apocynaceae): possibly named after Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809-1886), traveller, plant collector in South Africa, author of A Journal of a Residence at the Cape of Good Hope. (There is also a genus Bunburya in the Rubiaceae likely named for the same person) (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Bunburya (Rubiaceae): see previous entry.

Burchellia (Rubiaceae): this tree was named after William John Burchell (1781-1863), botanical collector, painter, writer, gardener, entomologist, early explorer and naturalist in South Africa who was the author of Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa , a book that was published in 1822. (CRC World Dictionary of Pplant Names). "[He is] regarded as one of the greatest of the early African explorers. He was an accomplished naturalist, who ammassed vast natural history collections and described many new species. His achievements were not fully recognized by his contemporaries and he became a solitary and unhappy figure in later life. He developed an interest in natural history early on in life and was particularly taken with botany, which he studied at Kew Gardens. In his mid twenties Burchell took up the position of schoolmaster and acting botanist on the island of St. Helena. His fiancee set out to join him in 1807, however, upon arrival, she announced a change of heart; she was to marry the captain of the ship that had carried her to the island, and Burchell was to remain a bachelor until his death in 1863." (website of Oxford University Museum of Natural History) His name is also on the Burchell's zebra.

Burkea (Fabaceae): named for British botanist and collector Joseph Burke (1812-1873). He participated in several collecting expeditions with the noted South African botanist Carl L.P. Zeyher, and later emigrated to the U.S.

Burmannia (Burmanniaceae): honors the Dutch botanist and physician Johannes Burman (1707-1779), a professor of botany at Amsterdam who studied under Herman Boerhaave and who was a close friend of Carolus Linnaeus. He was the author of Thesaurus zeylanicus.

Burnatia (Alismataceae): dedicated to Emile Burnat (1828-1920), Swiss engineer, industrialist, magistrate and amateur botanist.

Buttonia (Scrophulariaceae): named for the English botanist Edward Button (1836-1900), plant collector who died in South Africa.

Caesalpinia (Fabaceae): named for the noted Italian botanist and plant collector Andrea Cesalpino (1519-1603), naturalist, philospher and physician to Pope Clement VIII, professor of medicine and botany at Oisa and Rome, Praefectus of the first Botanical Garden of Pisa and founder of the second. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Caesia (Antheriaceae): named after the Italian botanist Federico Cesi (Fridericus Caesius) (1585-1630), microscopist and supporter of Galileo.

Calandrinia (Portulacaceae): named for the Swiss botanist Jean Louis Calandrini (1703-1758), traveller and professor of mathematics and philosophy at Geneva.

Caldesia (Alismataceae): named for the Italian botanist Ludovico Caldesi (1822-1884), politician, mycologist, naturalist, and member of Parliament. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Calpurnia (Fabaceae): the genus Calpurnia is named after the Roman poet Calpurnius.

Calvaria (Sapotaceae): ???

Caperonia (Euphorbiaceae): named for Noël Caperon or Capperon of Orleans, an apothecary who was the first to call Fritillaria by that name. He was a Protestant and was murdered by a Catholic mob in 1572.
(Thanks to David Hollombe)

Casearia (Flacourtiaceae): named after the Dutch clergyman Johannes Casearius (1642-1678), a missionary, minister of the Dutch East India Company, and co-author of the first two volumes of Hendrik A. Van Rheede's Hortus Indicus Malabaricus.

Cassinia (Asteraceae): named for the French botanist and naturalist Alexandre Henri Gabriel Comte de Cassini (1781-1832). "He was the youngest of five children of Jacques Dominique, Comte de Cassini, who had succeeded his father as the director of the Paris Observatory, famous for completing the map of France. He was also the great-great-grandson of famous Italian-French astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, discoverer of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. The genus Cassinia was named in his honour by the botanist Robert Brown. He named many flowering plants and new genera in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), many of them from North America. He published 65 papers and 11 reviews in the [Nouveau] Bulletin des Sciences par la Société Philomatique de Paris between 1812 and 1821. In 1825, A. Cassini placed the North American taxa of Prenanthes in the new genus Nabalus, now considered a subgenus of Prenanthes (family Asteraceae, tribe Lactuceae). In 1828 he named Dugaldia hoopesii for the Scottish naturalist Dugald Stewart (1753-1828)." (Wikipedia)

Cavacoa (Euphorbiaceae): genus named for the Portuguese botanist Alberto Judice Leote Cavaco (1916- ?), plant collector in Mozambique.

Celmisia (Asteraceae): named for Celmision, son of the Greek nymph Alciope.

Celsia (Scrophulariaceae): named after the Swedish theologist, botanist, plant collector, teacher and patron of Linnaeus Olof Celsius, the Elder (1670-1756).

chabaudii (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): this species can be found in the Northern Province, and the Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal areas of South Africa. Aloe chabaudii flowers during June and July. Aloe chabaudii was named after John A. Chabaud. (PlantzAfrica)

Chapmanolirion (Amaryllidaceae): named for James Chapman (1831-1872), a South African explorer, hunter, trader and photographer.

Chironia (Gentianaceae): the name Chironia refers to this plant's medicinal attributes. It is named after Chiron, the good Centaur of Greek mythology who studied medicine, astronomy, music, and other arts, and was a skilled herbalist. Legend has it that he was accidentally shot and killed by Zeus who then put him in the sky as Alpha and Beta Centauri, the pointer stars for the Southern Cross. (PlantzAfrica)

Chloris (Poaceae): dedicated to Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers and the personification of spring/.

Chomelia (Rubiaceae): honors the French physician Pierre Jean Baptiste Chomel (1674-1740). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Christella (Thelypteridaceae): named for the Swiss botanist and plant geographer Konrad Hermann Heinrich Christ (1833-1933), pteridologist and professor of botany at Basel.

Cienfuegosia (Malvaceae): commemorates the 16th century Spanish botanist Bernardo Cienfuegos.

Clausena (Rutaceae): named after Danish priest Peder Claussen (1545-1614).

Cliffortia (Rosaceae): the genus name honors George Clifford, a rich Anglo-Dutch financier and a Director of the Dutch East India Company who was also a keen horticulturist. In Amsterdam , Linnaeus stayed with Clifford, who owned a large, famous garden and the Zoo; around 1735, Linnaeus named the genus after his patron. (PlantzAfrica)

Clivia (Amaryllidaceae): the plant is named after Lady Florentina Clive, the granddaughter of Baron Robert Clive who founded the British Empire in India.

Clutia (Euphorbiaceae): named for the Dutch botanist and apothecary Outgers Cluyt (Theodorus Angerius Clutius) (1590-1650).

Clytia (Euphorbiaceae): ???

Coddia (Rubiaceae): see following entry.

coddii (Agapanthus/Alliaceae): named after the South African botanist Dr. Leslie Edward W. Codd (1908- ?), director of the Botanical Resarch Institute in Pretoria from 1963-1973, co-author with Mary Gunn of Botanical Explorations of Southern Africa.

Coldenia (Boraginaceae): named after the Irish-born Scottish scientist and physician Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776). He studied medicine in London, was a historian and botanist, emigrated to America and was the father of the American botanist Jane Colden. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Commelina (Commelinaceae): honors the Dutch botanists Jan Commelin (1629-1692) and his nephew Caspar Commelin (1667/1668-1731).

comptonii (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): named after Professor R.H. Compton, the second director of the National Botanical Gardens of South Africa.

cooperi (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): Aloe cooperi is a South African grassland aloe. It was discovered by Burchell in his early travels in South Africa and was rediscovered by Thomas Cooper, after whom it was named. Cooper was an English botanist and plant explorer, who studied and collected plants in the mid to late 1800's in Zulu territory and in the Drakensberg Mountains of eastern South Africa.

Cordia (Boraginaceae): the genus Cordia is so called for the German botanist and pharmacist Valerius Cordus (1514/1515-1544), traveller and botanical collector who received a degree of bachelor of medicine at the University of Marburg. He was one of the fathers of pharmacognostics (a subfield of pharmacology which studies natural drugs, including the study of their biological and chemical components, botanical sources, and other characteristics) and died in Rome. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Coulteria (Fabaceae): ???

Courtoisia/Courtoisina (Cyperaceae): honors the Belgian botanist Richard Joseph Courtois (1806-1835).

Crabbea (Acanthaceae): named for the British amateur botanist and poet Rev. George Crabbe (1754-1832), a prolific writer.

Craibia (Fabaceae): the genus name honors William Grant Craib (1882–1933), a British botanist whose career included a spell as Assistant for India at Kew and a professorship at Aberdeen University. (PlantzAfrica).

croucheri (Gasteria/Asphodelaceae): first collected and introduced into cultivation by Thomas Cooper in 1860. It was named by Hooker in 1880. In 1869 he had described it as Aloe croucheri in Curtis's Botanical Journal stating, "This, the handsomest Gasteria of the kind that has hitherto flowered at Kew, is named after the intelligent foreman of the propagating department, Mr Croucher, under whose care the succulent plants of the Royal Garden are placed, and to whose zeal and special love for this class of plant the collection owes much of its value and interest." (PlantzAfrica)

Cullen (Fabaceae): ???

Cunonia (Cunoniaceae): the genus Cunonia is named after the Dutch naturalist Johann Christian Cuno (1708-1780), who published a book of verse about his garden in which many exotic plants were growing.

Curroria (Apocynaceae): named for a Mr. Andrew B. Curror (c1812-?) of HMS Water-Witch, a Scottish surgeon and plant collector in Angola in the 1840's.

Curtisia (Cornaceae): Curtisia is named in honor of William Curtis (1746-1799), founder of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, first published in 1786 and still going today, nurseryman, and entomologist. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Cussonia (Araliaceae): the name Cussonia was given by Carl Peter Thunberg to commemorate the French botanist Pierre Cusson (1727-1783).

Cuviera (Rubiaceae): named for the French naturalist Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832). He succeeded Lamarck in the Chair of Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes. He founded vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline. yet he was not a believer in evolution, being of the opinion that all species were created at once.

Cyclopia (Fabaceae): presumably named after the mythological Cyclops.

Cymodocea (Cymodoceaceae): named after the sea-nymph Cymodoce, in mythology one of the Nereids and a companion of Venus.

Dahlgrenodendron (Lauraceae): named for the Danish botanist Rolf T. M. Dahlgren (1932-1987) from the University of Lund. Before his untimely death in a traffic accident he wrote extensively on plant systematics.

Dahlia (Hamamelidaceae): named after the Swedish botanist and physician Andreas (Anders) Dahl (1751-1789), a student of Linnaeus at Uppsala University. "Thanks to recommendations from Linnaeus, Dahl was employeed as a curator at Claes Alströmer's natural cabinett and botanical garden at Kristinedal in Gamlestaden outside Gothenburg. Andreas Dahl followed Claes Alströmer when he in 1785 moved to his estate Gåsevadsholm outside Kungsbacka, after that he had fallen into a bad economical predicament. In 1786 Dahl was conferred an honorary doctor's degree of medicine in Kiel and in 1787 he became associate professor and botanical demonstrator at the university of Turku (Åbo). To Turku he brought his herbarium which later was destroyed in the big fire in Turku in 1827. Parts of Dahl's collections are preserved and kept in Sahlberg's herbarium in the Botanical Museum at the University of Helsinki and in Giseke's herbarium in the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh." (website of the Swedish Museum of Natural History) There is another genus Dahlia in the Asteraceae family which is also named for him, but it is not represented in South Africa.

Dalbergia (Fabaceae): named for the 18th century Swedish planter Carl Gustav Dahlberg, a mercenary soldier in Suriname and botanical collector for Linnaeus.

Danthonia (Poaceae): named for the 18th century French botanist and agrostologist Étienne Danthoine.

Daubenya (Hyacinthaceae): honors the English botanist and physician Charles Giles Bridle Daubeny (1795-1867), professor of chemistry and botany at Oxford, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and plant collector in the U.S., West Indies and Europe.

Davallia (Davalliaceae): named after the English-born Swiss botanist Edmund Davall (1763-1798), plant collector and Fellow of the Linnaean Society.

Decorsea (Fabaceae): honors the French military physician Gaston Jules Decorse (1873-1907).

Deinbollia (Sapindaceae): honors the Danish botanist Peter Vogelius Deinboll (1784-1874), plant collector and clergyman.

Delairia (Asteraceae): named after Eugene Delaire (1810-1856), head gardener at the botanical gardens in Orleans from 1837 to 1856. (Calflora.net)

Derenbergia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for German physician and succulent plant collector Dr. Julius Derenberg (1873-1928) who had a particular interest in the Mesembs.

Deroemeria (Orchidaceae): possibly named for the same Mr. de Roemer (fl. 1852) for whom the orchid genus Deroemera is named?

Deschampsia (Poaceae): honors the French botanist, naturalist and surgeon Louis Auguste Deschamps (1765-1842). A website of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands offers this information: "Surgeon-Naturalist of the expedition of the ‘Recherche’ in search of [the explorer Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse] 1791-1793. When the expedition stranded in Java he was interned for a short interval, but Governor van Overstraten offered him to stay in Java to make natural history investigations for which he would get facilities to extend his research into the interior of the island. Deschamps accepted, as he says, in the interest of science, and took leave of his travel companions. In the subsequent years this Frenchman made numerous trips, and he certainly has been the first to make botanical collections on several of the mountains and in many remote localities of Java. It is a pity that evidently none of his botanical specimens are preserved, as his diary, drawings and MS. papers are such that we might have expected extremely valuable material. During his travels he was partly accompanied by some young assistants who were to help him with the description and drawing of plants and animals (he collected fishes too!). Afterwards he settled at Batavia as a physician until 1802, in which year he sailed for Mauritius. Later he settled at St. Omer in France"

Descurainia (Brassicaceae): named for French pharmacist and botanist François Déscourain (1658-1740), friend of Bernard de Jussieu.

Desmazeria (Poaceae): honors the French botanist Jean Baptiste Henri Joseph Desmazieres (1786-1862), horticulturist and author of Plantes cryptogrames de Nord de la France.

Deverra (Apiaceae): named for the Roman goddess who protects women in labor, and patroness of midwives.

Dewinterella (Amaryllidaceae): possibly after Bernard De Winter (1924- ), South African botanist and author of Sixty-six Transvaal trees. There is also a Rust De Winter Nature Reserve in South Africa.

Dietrichia (Crassulaceae): ???

Dintera (Scrophulariaceae): honors the German botanist and explorer Moritz Kurt Dinter (1868-1945), plant collector in SW Africa.

Dinteranthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): see previous entry.

Dittrichia (Asteraceae): named for the German botanist Manfred Dittrich (1934- ), a specialist in the Asteraceae.

Dobrowskya (Campanulaceae): named for philologist Joseph Dobrowsky (1753-1829).

Dodonaea (Sapindaceae): honors one of the foremost botanists of his day, the Flemish physician and herbalist Rembert Dodoens (1517/1518-1585), on the faculty of medicine at Leyden University.

Dombeya (Sterculiaceae): named for French botanist Joseph Dombey (1742-1796?), physician, naturalist, explorer and traveller in Chile and Peru, died in prison in the West Indies.

Doodia (Blechnaceae): after the British botanist Samuel Doody (1656-1706), pharmacist, plant collector for Rev. Adam Buddle, Curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, student of cryptogams, and Fellow of the Royal Society. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Dorotheanthus (Aizoaceae): the name Dorotheanthus was given by Dr. Martin Heinrich Schwantes in honor of his mother Dorothea Schwantes. (PlantzAfrica)

Dortmannia (Lobeliaceae): probably honors a Dutch apothecary named Dortmann.

Dovea (Restionaceae): named after the German meteorologist Heirich Wilhelm Dove (1803-1879).

Dregea (Apocynaceae): named after the German plant collector Jean François Drège (1794-1881), a botanical explorer and traveller who arrived in the Cape 1826. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) There is another genus Dregea in the Apiaceae which may be named for someone else.

Dregeochloa (Poaceae): named after Johann Franz Drege (1794-1881), a German plant collector in the Cape in the early 1800's.

Duchesnea (Rosaceae): honors the French horticulturist and botanist Antoine Nicholas Duchesne (1747-1827).

Dufourea (Podostemaceae): named for the French botanist, mycologist and naturalist Jean-Marie Léon Marie Dufour (1780-1865).

Dumasia (Fabaceae): named for the French scientist Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas (1800-1884), son-in-law of Alexandre Brongniart.

Dumortia (Marchantiaceae): ???

Duranta (Verbenaceae): honors the Italian botanist Castore Durante (1529-1590), physician to Pope Sixtus V.

Duthiastrum (Iridaceae): after botanist Dr. Augusta Vera Duthie (1881-1963), born in Knysna, lecturer in botany at Victoria College which later became Stellenbosch University.

Duvalia (Apocynaceae): honors the French physician and botanist Henri Auguste Duval (1777-1814). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) Both the genus Duvalia in the Fabaceae and the genus Duvalia in the Apocynaceae are named for this individual.

Duvernoia (Acanthaceae): named after the German botanist Johann Georg Duvernoy (1692-1759), studied under Joseph Pitton de Tournefort.

dyeri (Agapanthus/Alliaceae): this species was named after Dr. Robert Allen Dyer (1900-1987), Director of the Botanical Research Institute in Praetoria, South Africa. (PlantzAfrica)

Dyerophytum (Plumbaginaceae): after the British botanist Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928).

Eberlanzia (Mesembryanthemaceae): honors the German botanist Friedrich Gustav Eberlanz (1879-1966).

Ecklonea (Cyperaceae): named for Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1795-1868), a Danish pharmacist, botanist and plant collector, and one of the early botanical explorers of the Cape. He moved to South Africa in 1823 as first an apothecary's apprentice and then pharmacist and collected plants from 1823 to 1833, returning to Europe in 1828 with vast amounts of collected material which were distributed to German and Danish botanists. During part of this time he worked with Karl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher with whom he published a catalogue of South African plants (1835-7). From 1833 to 1838 he was in Hamburg working on revising his collection, later returning to South Africa where he eventually died.

ecklonis (Dimorphotheca/Asteraceae): see previous entry.

Edmondia (Asteraceae): possibly named for Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810-1885), Swiss botanist, but this is just a wild guess.

Ehretia (Boraginaceae): named after an 18th century German botanical artist, George Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770), gardener and friend and correspondent of Linnaeus. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Ehrharta (Poaceae): honors the Swiss-born German botanist Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart (1742-1795), naturalist and pupil of Linnaeus at Uppsala University and friend of his son, also Director of the Botanical Garden of Hannover. Important collections of this outstanding German botanist are kept at the Herbarium of Moscow University.

Eichhornia (Pontederiaceae): commemorates the Prussian minister of education and public welfare, court advisor and politician Johann Albrecht Friedrich Eichhorn (1779-1856).

Ekebergia (Meliaceae): named by the Swedish botanist Anders Sparrman after Captain Carl Gustav Ekeberg (1716-1784), whose sponsorship made it possible for him to visit Africa.

Elsiea (Hyacinthaceae): dedicated to Elsie Elizabeth Esterhuysen (1912- ), botanical collector and botanist at the Bolus Herbarium, the oldest functioning herbarium in South Africa established in 1856.

Englerastrum (Lamiaceae): honors the German botanist Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (1844-1930). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Engleria (Asteraceae): see previous entry.

Englerodaphne (Thymelaeaceae): see previous entry.

Englerophytum (Sapotaceae): see previous entry.

Eschscholzia (Papaveraceae): named after Dr. Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz (1793-1831), an Estonian surgeon and botanist who came with the Russian expeditions to the Pacific coast in 1816 and 1824. On their first visit to the San Francisco region, his name was put on the previously undescribed California poppy by his friend and companion Adelbert von Chamisso (see chamissonis), and subsequently on dozens of other newly discovered flowers. Later he returned the favor by naming a lupine after his friend, Lupinus chamissonis.

Esterhuysenia (Mesembryanthemaceae): see Elsiea.

Eugenia (Myrtaceae): dedicated to the French-born Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), book collector and patron of botany, one of the greatest of the Austrian Hapsburg generals. He distinguished himself in many campaigns, most notably against the Turks who were besieging Vienna, again against the Turks after they recaptured Belgrade, and against the French in Italy and Provence during the War of Spanish Succession. He was the only person whose name has been given to warships of four different navies, British, Austro-Hungarian, German and Italian. The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen operated alongside the battleship Bismarck when the latter sank HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

Eulalia (Poaceae): honors the painter Eulalie Delile who illustrated the work of the French naturalist Victor Jacquemont (see Jacquemontia).

Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae): named for Euphorbus, Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania. Juba was educated in Rome and married the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. He was apparently interested in botany and had written about an African cactus-like plant he had found or which he knew about from the slopes of Mt. Atlas which was used as a powerful laxative. That plant may have been Euphorbia resinifera, and like all Euphorbias had a latexy exudate. Euphorbus had a brother named Antonius Musa who was the physician to Augustus Caesar in Rome. When Juba heard that Caesar had honored his physician with a statue, he decided to honor his own physician by naming the plant he had written about after him. The word Euphorbus derives from eu, "good," and phorbe, "pasture or fodder," thus giving euphorbos the meaning "well fed." Some sources suggest that Juba was amused by the play upon words and chose his physician's name for the plant because of its succulent nature and because of Euphorbus' corpulent physique.

Fagelia (Fabaceae): named for horticulturist Caspar Fagelius. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Fagonia (Zygophyllaceae): named for the French botanist Guy-Crescent Fagon (1638-1718), chemist, patron of botany, chief physician to Louis XIV, professor of botany at the Paris Jardin du Roi, 1671-1708, and from 1699 to 1718 its director.(CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Falkia (Convolvulaceae): honors botanist Johan Peter Falk (1733-1774), traveller and pupil of Linnaeus.

Fallopia (Polygonaceae): named for the Italian anatomist Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562), professor of anatomy at Padua, discovered the tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus.

Fanninia (Apocynaceae): commemorates the Irish botanist George Fox Fannin (1832-1865) , plant collector and farmer (died Natal).

fanninii (Anemone/Ranunculaceae): first collected in 1863 by Fannin at his farm in Dargle, KwaZulu-Natal, specimens were sent to Harvey in Dublin, who named the plant after him, but failed to provide a description. It was later collected by Adlam and described by Masters.

Faurea (Proteaceae): honors the South African botanist William Caldwell Faure (1822-1844), soldier and naturalist, died at an early age.

Felicia (Asteraceae): named by A.H.G. de Cassini in 1818 after Herr Felix, a German official at Regensburg who died in 1846. It has also been suggested that the generic name could be derived from the Latin felix meaning cheerful, a reference to the bright flowers, or that it might have been named for the Italian Fortunato Bartolomeo de Felice (1723-1789).

Ferraria (Iridaceae): commemorates the Italian botanist Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1584-1655), entered the Jesuit order in Rome in 1602, was a professor of Hebrew and Rhetoric at the Jesuit College in Rome, and held a position as horticultural advisor to the papal family.

Ficinia (Cyperaceae): named for the German botanist Heinrich David Auguste Ficinus (1782-1857).

Finckea (Ericaceae): ???

Fingerhuthia (Poaceae): dedicated to the German botanist and physician Karl Anton Fingerhuth (1798-1876).

Fintelmannia (Cyperaceae): ???

Flacourtia (Flacourtiaceae): named for botanist and traveller Étienne de Flacourt (1607-1660), Director of the French East India Company.

Flanagania (Apocynaceae): see following entries.

flanaganiae (Impatiens/Balsaminaceae): the species name, "flanaganiae," was named after a Mrs. H.G. Flanagan (nee Florence Reynolds), the lady who discovered it in the Eastern Cape. See following entry.

flanaganii (Greyia/Greyiaceae): the species was named after Henry George Flanagan (1861-1919), a South African-born collector and traveller. Flanagan also owned Prospect Farm in the Komga District of Eastern Cape, where he developed a noteworthy garden containing rare exotics as well as South African trees and shrubs. (PlantzAfrica)

Flemingia (Fabaceae): named for the English botanist and physician John Fleming (1747-1829), member of the Indian Medical Service in Bengal and Fellow of the Royal and Linnaean Societies. There are also genera Flemingia in the Acanthaceae and Rubiaceae families, but not in South Africa.

Fleurya (Urticaceae): dedicated to the French plant collector Francis Fleury (1882-1919) who died during an expedition to India and Malaya.

Flueggia (Phyllanthaceae): named for the German physician and cryptogamic botanist Johann Fluggé (1775-1816).

Fockea (Apocynaceae): commemorates the German physician Gustav Waldemar Focke, doctor, plant physiologist, and author.

Forbesia (Hypoxidaceae): ???

Forsskaolea (Urticaceae): honors the Finnish-born Swedish botanist Pehr Forsskål (1732-1763), traveller, plant collector and pupil of Linnaeus.

Forsstroemia (Leptodontaceae): named for the Swedish pastor and collector Johan Erik Forsström.

framesii (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): this plant was named after Percy Ross Frames who first collected it to the north of Port Nolloth.

Frankenia (Frankeniaceae): named after Johan Frankenius (1590-1661), sometimes written as Franke or Franckenius or Franck, professor of anatomy, medicine and botany at Uppsala, Sweden, and the first writer on Swedish plants, author of Speculum botanicum, and a colleague of Linnaeus.

Freesia (Iridaceae): named after F.H.T. Freese (died 1876), a German physician from Kiel and a pupil of Ecklon. (PlantzAfrica)

Freylinia (Scrophulariaceae): honors Count L. de Freylino. The Count owned a famous garden in Buttigliera near Marengo in Italy in the early 19 th century. (PlantzAfrica)

friderici-huilielmi (Encephalartos/Zamiaceae): named and described in 1834 by Professor Johann Georg Christian Lehmann of Hamburg in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm, King of Prussia, who was a patron of botany.

Friedrichsthalia (Boraginaceae): named after Emmanuel Ritter von Friedrichsthal (1809-1842). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Friesodielsia (Annonaceae): commemorates the Swedish botanist Elias Magnus Fries (1794-1878), one of the founders of taxonomic mycology, and German botanist Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (1874-1945).

Frithia (Aizoaceae): named after Frank Frith (1872-1954), a railway services gardener stationed at Park Station, Johannesburg, who took the specimens to Brown at Kew while on a visit to London. (PlantzAfrica)

Fuirena (Cyperaceae): honors the Danish botanist and physician Jørgen Fuiren (1581-1628), traveller through-out Scandinavia, pupil of (Gaspard?) Bauhin.

Gaillardia (Asteraceae): this genus is named for the French magistrate Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th century patron of botany, naturalist, and amateur botanist. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Gaillonia (Rubiaceae): dedicated to the French algologist François Benjamin Gaillon (1782-1839).

Galenia (Galeniaceae): for the Greek or Roman (?) Claudius Galen, c. 130-200 AD, one of the most eminent physicians of his age and a prolific writer on medicine. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Galinsoga (Asteraceae): named after the Spanish botanist Mariano Martinez Galinsoga (d. 1797), physician and superintendent of the Madrid Botanical Gardens. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Galpinia (Lythraceae): named for Ernest Edward Galpin (1858-1941), a South African botanist and banker. He left some 16,000 sheets to the National Herbarium in Pretoria and was dubbed "the Prince of Collectors" by General Smuts. Galpin discovered half a dozen genera and many hundreds of new species. Numerous species are named after him such as Acacia galpinii, Bauhinia galpinii, Cyrtanthus galpinii, Kleinia galpinii, Kniphofia galpinii, Streptocarpus galpinii and Watsonia galpinii. He is commemorated also in the genus Galpinia as is his farm in the genus Mosdenia.

galpinii (Vernonia/Asteraceae): see previous entry. The type specimen was collected from Saddleback Mountain near Barberton in Mpumalanga.

Galtonia (Hyacinthaceae): the genus is named after Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911), who published a book on his travels in South Africa, but is better known for his founding work on fingerprints, eugenics and biometrics.

Gardenia (Rubiaceae): honors the English-born American botanist and physician Alexander Garden (1730-1791), correspondent of Linnaeus and Fellow of the Royal Society.

Gazania (Asteraceae): the generic name, Gazania, was given in honor of Theodor of Gaza (1398–1478). He was responsible for the translation of the botanical works of Theophrastus from Greek into Latin. (PlantzAfrica)

Geigeria (Asteraceae): after a Professor Geiger of Heidelberg.

Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae): named for Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de Saint-Aubin, Comtesse de Genlis (1746-1830).

Gerardia (Scrophulariaceae): named for the British physician John Gerard (1545-1612).

Gerardiina (Scrophulariaceae): ???

Gerbera (Asteraceae): named by Jan Gronovius in 1737 for the Gerber brothers, Fr. Gerber, who collected plants in the West Indies, and Traugott Gerber, a German medical doctor and naturalist, and the curator of the oldest botanical garden in Moscow. In spite of extensive investigations, no link or reason has been found for the choice of their name for the genus. (PlantzAfrica)

Gerdaria (Scrophulariaceae): ???

Gerrardanthus (Cucurbitaceae): honors William Tyrer Gerrard (?-1866), British botanical collector in Natal and Madagascar.

Gerrardina (Flacourtiaceae): see previous entry.

gerstneri (Aloe/Asphodelaceae): Aloe gerstneri was named after a Rev. J. Gerstner who first disovered it in 1931.

gibsonii (Nerine/Amaryllidaceae): the specific epithet 'gibsonii' commemorates a Mr. L.F. Gibson of Engcobo in the former Transkei region of South Africa, who first collected this species in the mid 1950s. (PlantzAfrica)

Girardinia (Urticaceae): ???

Gisekia (Gisekiaceae): commemorates the German botanist Paul Dietrich Giseke (1741-1796), pupil of Carolus Linnaeus.

Gleditsia (Fabaceae): named after the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (Gleditsius) (1714-1786).

Gleichenia (Gleicheniaceae): dedicated to the German botanist and microscopist Wilhelm Friedrich von Gleichen-Russworm (1717-1783).

Glekia (Scrophulariaceae): honors the German apothecary and botanical collector Georg Ludwig Engelhard Krebs (1792-1844), naturalist at the Cape.

gordonii (Hoodia/Apocynaceae): discovered by Paterson and Col. R.F. Gordon in December, 1778, in the Upington area. Mr. Francis Masson, a famous botanist, named this plant Stapelia gordonii with the specific epithet named after Gordon. In 1830 the genus was later transferred by Sweet into the genus Hoodia, which was named in honor of Van Hood, a keen succulent grower. (PlantzAfrica)

Gorteria (Asteraceae): named after the Dutch botanist David de Gorter (1717-1783), physician, plant collector, professor of medicine who studied medicine with Linnaeus, physician of the empress Elizabeth the Great of Russia. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Gottschea (Schistochilaceae): ???

greatheadii (Aloe): named for Dr. John Baldwin Smithson Greathead (1854-1910), South African surgeon, game hunter, naturalist and photographer, collected the first specimen with Selmar Schönland during their hunting expedition to Botswana.

greenii (Barleria/Acanthaceae): the specific epithet honors Dave Green, a farmer and amateur botanist from the Estcourt district in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands who discovered the plant. (PlantzAfrica)

Grevillea (Proteaceae): named for the English horticulturist Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809), who introduced and grew many rare plants 14 of which were illustrated in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, Fellow and Vice-President of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, member of Parliament and a Lord of the Admiralty.

Grewia (Tilaceae): this large genus is named after the English botanist and physiologist Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712), a physician and microscopist, Fellow of the Royal Society, a pioneer in exploring the physiology of plants, and one of the founders of the science of plant anatomy. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Greyia (Greyiaceae): named in honor of Sir George Grey (1812-1898), who was the governor of South Australia, the Cape Colony and New Zealand in the second part of the 19th century. He was also a great patron of botany and an explorer. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Grimmia (Grimmiaceae): named after the German physician and botanist Dr. J.F.K. Grimm of Gotha (died 1821) (Bryophyte Flora of North America)

Grisebachia (Ericaceae): honors the German botanist August Heinrich Rudolph Grisebach (1814-1879), who was a phytogeographer (i.e. a person who studies the geography of plant distribution), plant collector and taxonomist, professor of botany, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and Director of of the Botanical Garden of Göttingen.

Grossera (Euphorbiaceae): named for botanist Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Grosser (1869- ?).

Grubbia (Grubbiaceae): honors the Swedish botanist Michael Grubb (1728-1808), minerologist, traveller and botanical collector at the Cape.

Guatteria (Annonaceae): the name of this very large genus commemorates the Italian botanist Giovanni Battista Guatteri (1743 or 1739-1793), professor of botany, and founder of the New Botanical Garden of Parma. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Guettarda (Rubiaceae): named for the French physician, naturalist, botanist and minerologist Jean Étienne Guettard (1715-1786).

Guibourtia (Fabaceae): honors the French pharmacologist Nicholas Jean Baptiste Gaston Guibourt (1790-1861).

Guilandina (Fabaceae): dedicated to the 16th century Prussian naturalist and scholar Melchior Guilandinus, traveller, botanist, professor at the University of Padua and Praefectus of the Botanical Garden there.

Guilleminea (Amaranthaceae): named for French botanist Jean Baptiste Antoine Guillemin (1796-1842), traveller and author. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Gunnera (Gunneraceae): honors the Norwegian clergyman and botanist Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773), Bishop of Trondheim, Norway, founder of the Norwegian Royal Society and publisher of Flora norvegica.

Gussonia (Orchidaceae): dedicated to the Italian botanist Giovanni Gussone (1787-1866).

Guthriea (Achariaceae): named for Francis Guthrie (1831-1899), the South African mathematician and botanist who first posed the Four Color Problem in 1852. At the time, Guthrie was a student of Augustus De Morgan at University College, London. He obtained his B.A. in 1850, and LL.B. in 1852 with first class honours. While coloring a map of the counties of England, he noticed that at least four colors were required so that no two regions sharing a common border were the same color. He postulated that four colors would be sufficient to color any map. This became known as the Four Color Problem, and remained one of the most famous unsolved problems in topology for more than a century, until it was eventually proven in 1976 using a controversial computer-aided proof which was lengthy and inelegant. Guthrie eventually moved to South Africa in 1861 and took up the post of mathematics master at the Graaff-Reinet College. While there he gave some lectures in botany and thus started a life-long friendship with local resident Harry Bolus. He advised Bolus to take up the study of botany to assuage his grief at the loss of his son. When Bolus left for Cape Town a few years later, he persuaded Guthrie to move there as well. For a while he practised at the Bar and edited a newspaper before becoming professor of mathematics at the South African College, which later became the University of Cape Town. He remained there from 1876 until he retired in 1898. When Bolus undertook to do the family of Ericaceae for Flora Capensis, he enlisted Guthrie's aid and they collaborated until Guthrie's death. Before his death, Guthrie had made an extensive collection of the Cape Peninsula flora, which was eventually housed as the Guthrie Herbarium in the University of Cape Town Botany Department, and used for teaching and reference. (Wikipedia)

Hackelochloa (Poaceae): named for the Bohemian-born Austrian botanist Eduard Hackel (1850-1926), an agrostologist and high school teacher.

Hainardia (Poaceae): the CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names says, "presumably after P. Hainardi, a Swiss phytogeographer."

Hakea (Proteaceae): named for the German promoter of botany Baron Christian Ludwig von Hake (1745-1818).

Halleria (Scrophulariaceae): named after the Swiss botanist Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), physician, poet, experimental physiologist, professor of botany at Göttingen and founder of the Göttingen University herbarium. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Hallia (Fabaceae): honors the Swedish botanist and physician Birger Mårten Hall (1741-1841).

Hallianthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for the English gardener Harry Hall (1906-1986), collector of succulent plants, worked at Kew Gardens 1930-1933, Curator of the Darrah Cactus Collection at Manchester 1933-1947, and horticulturist at the famed Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden at Cape Town 1947-1968. He was a major explorer of Euphorbias in South Africa. He was awarded a Fellow of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America in 1981. The CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names adds this fascinating (if true) footnote, that he died by hanging in South Africa, but I have been unable to find any confirmation of this.

Hammeria (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for the American pianist, horticulturist and Mesemb specialist Steven A. Hammer, foremost authority on and monographer of the genus Conophytum.

Harrisia (Cactaceae): named for the Irish botanist William H. Harris (1860-1920), gardener and plant collector, student of the flora of Jamaica, Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and from 1908 to 1917 the Superintendent of the Public Gardens and Plantations in Jamaica.

Hartogia (Celastraceae): honors the German plant collector and gardener Johan Hartog (1663-1722), worked in Sri Lanka and Cape Town. There is also a fairly large genus Hartogia in the Rutaceae family in South Africa.

Hartogiella (Celastraceae): see previous entry.

Hartwegia (Orchidaceae): after the German botanist Karl Theodore Hartweg (1812-1871), botanical explorer and plant collector in North, Central and South America. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Harveya (Scrophulariaceae): named for the Irish-born botanist William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), algologist and pioneer of South African systematic botany, Colonial Treasurer-General of the Cape Colony, Keeper of the herbarium at Trinity College, Dublin, professor of botany to the Royal Dublin Society and at Trinity College, Dublin, Fellow of the Linnaean and Royal Societies, co-author with Dr. O.W. Sonder of Hamburg of the first three volumes of Flora capensis from 1860-1865.

harveyana (Gymnosporia/Celastraceae): the name 'harveyana' honors the renowned botanist William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), who was born in Ireland, the youngest of eleven children. He came to the Cape when he was 23 years old and stayed about four years before he returned to Ireland. See also previous entry (PlantzAfrica)

Haumaniastrum (Lamiaceae): named for Belgian botanist Lucien Hauman (1880-1965).

Haworthia (Asphodelaceae): the genus is named after the English entomologist, botanist and authority on succulents and Lepidoptera, Adrian Hardy Haworth (1768-1833).

haworthii (Senecio/Asteraceae): this plant was originally described by esteemed plantsman-botanist Adrian Haworth in 1803 as Cacalia tomentosa, the specific epithet 'tomentosa' referring to the hairy, fleshy, cylindrical leaves. The name was later changed to Senecio haworthii in honor of Haworth.

Hebenstretia (Scrophulariaceae): named after Johann Christian Hebenstreit (1720-1791), a professor of medicine at Leipzig and also of botany at St Petersburg. (PlantzAfrica)

Hedwigia (Burseraceae): honors the German botanist and physician Johann Hedwig (1730-1799).

Heeria (Anacardiaceae): honors the Swiss paleobotanist and entomologist Oswald von Heer (1809-1883), zoologist, biologist, theologist, traveller and plant and insect collect, director of the botanic gardens in Zurich, professor of botany and entomology at the University of Zurich. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Heimia (Lythraceae): dedicated to the German physician Ernst Ledwig Heim (1747-1834), student of mosses.

Heinsia (Rubiaceae): this genus was named for the Dutch philologist Daniel Heinsius (1580-1655).

Hellmuthia (Cyperaceae): ???

Herbertus (Herbertiaceae): ???

Hereroa (Mesembryanthemaceae): named for the Herero people, Bantu speakers of southwestern Africa.

Hermannia (Sterculiaceae): honors the German-born Dutch botanist Paul Hermann (1646-1695), herbalist, professor of botany at Leyden, traveller and explorer in Africa, India and Sri Lanka, plant collector at the Cape.

Herrea (Mesembryanthemaceae): named after the German botanist and horticulturist Adolar Gottlieb Julius Hans Herre (1893-1979).

Herreanthus (Mesembryanthemaceae): see previous entry.

Herschelia (Orchidaceae): named for the English astronomer Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871) who named the seven then-known moons of Saturn and the four then-known moons of Uranus. He was the son of the famous astronomer Sir William Herschel 1738-1822) who discovered the planet Uranus. "In 1833 Herschel travelled to South Africa in order to catalogue the stars, nebulae, and other objects of the southern skies.[2] This was to be a completion as well as extension of the survey of the northern heavens undertaken initially by his father William Herschel. He arrived in Cape Town on 15 January 1834. Amongst his other observations during this time was that of the return of Comet Halley. However, in addition to his astronomical work, this voyage to a far corner of the British empire also gave Herschel an escape from the pressures under which he found himself in London, where he was one of the most sought-after of all British men of science. While in southern Africa, he engaged in a broad variety of scientific pursuits free from a sense of strong obligations to a larger scientific community. It was, he later recalled, probably the happiest time in his life." (from Wikipedia)

Herschelianthe (Orchidaceae): see previous entry.

Hertia (Asteraceae): honors German physician Joannes Casimirus Hertius.

Hessea (Amaryllidaceae): named either for botanical traveller Paul Hesse or Christian Henrich Friedrich Hesse (1772-1837), a Lutheran minister who came to Cape Town from Hanover and grew succulents. ??

Hewittia (Convolvulaceae): honors the English zoologist John Hewitt (1880-1961), a naturalist who was from 1905 to 1908 the Curator of the Sarawak Museum, and from 1910 to 1958 the Director of the Albany Museum in Grahamstown, the second oldest museum in southern Africa.

Heywoodia (Euphorbiaceae): named for a Mr. A.W. Heywood, who was Conservator of Forests in the Transkei region of South Africa and author of Cape Woods and Forests.

Hiernia (Scrophulariaceae): named for the British botanist and plant collector William Philip Hiern (1839-1925), Fellow of the Linnaean and Royal Societies.

Hilleria (Phytolaccaceae): honors the German botanist Matthaeus Hiller (1646-1725), professor at the University of Tübingen.

Hirschfeldia (Brassicaceae): named after the German horticulturist Christian Caius Lorenz Hirschfeld (1742-1792).

Hoffmannseggia (Fabaceae): named after the German botanist Johann Centurius, Count Von Hoffmansegg (1766-1849), entomologist, ornithologist, a traveller and co-author of a flora of Portugal entitled Flore portugaise.

Holmskioldia (Verbenaceae): honors the Danish botanist and physician Theodor Holm (Holmskjold) (1732-1794).

Holubia (Pedaliaceae): named after Dr. Emil Holub (1847-1902), author, physician, naturalist and traveller in southern Africa. There is also a genus Holubia in the Gentianaceae family named for the same individual, but it is not present in southern Africa.

Hoodia (Apocynaceae): different sources say that this was named either for a Mr. Van Wood, fl. 1820's, a cultivator of succulent plants, or for a surgeon (possibly Dr. William Chamberlain Hood, 1790-1879) who lived in South Lambeth, London, and collected succulents, probably the latter (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Hookeriopsis (Pilotrichaceae): ???

horsfallii (Eulophia/Orchidaceae): the specific epithet 'horsfallii' honors the nineteenth century British horticulturist Mr. T.B. Horsfall, who cultivated and flowered the type material of this species, collected in West Africa, in his glasshouse in England, and which was beautifully illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1865. (PlantzAfrica)

Hoslundia (Lamiaceae): was named for the Danish botanist Ole Haaslund-Schmidt (Smith) (d. 1802), a naturalist. traveller and plant collector in Ghana. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Hottonia (Scrophulariaceae): honors the Dutch botanist and physician Pieter Hotton (1648-1709), professor of botany and member of the Royal Society of London.

Hugonia (Linaceae): commemorates a certain Augustus Johannes Hugo (?-1753).

Humea (Asteraceae): named after Lady Amelia Hume (1751-1809), an English amateur botanist.

Huperzia (Lycopodiaceae): honors the German botanist and physician Johann Peter Huperz (1771-1816), a fern horticulturist.

Husnotiella (Pottiaceae): possibly named after the same individual for whom the genus Husnotia is named, the French botanist Pierre Tranquille Husnot (1840-1929), bryologist, agrostologist and botanical collector.

Huttonaea (Orchidaceae): named for the collector of the type specimen, Mrs. Henry Hotton, a plant collector in South Africa.

Hyacinthus (Hyacinthaceae): named after Hyacinth, in mythology a youth much beloved of Apollo, who was accidentally struck by a discus thrown by Apollo and killed. Supposedly, Apollo and the wind god Zephyrus had a sort of rivalry for Hyacinth's affections, and it was Zephyrus who blew the discus off course, resulting in Hyacinth's death. In grief Apollo caused the hyacinth flower to rise from the youth's blood.

Ibbetsonia (Fabaceae): ???

Ihlenfeldtia (Mesembryanthemaceae): named after the German botanist Dr. Hans-Dieter Ihlenfeldt who conducted succulent plant research in South Africa.

Imperata (Poaceae): named after Ferante Imperato (1550-1625), an Italian apothecary and author of Dell'historia naturale.

Inezia (Asteraceae): honors the South African botanist and plant collector Inez Clare Verdoorn (1896-1989), co-author of Wildflowers of the Transvaal. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Ingenhoussia (Fabaceae): ???

Iphigenia (Colchicaceae): named after Iphigeneia, in Greek mythology the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

Iris (Iridaceae): named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods.

Jacksonago (Fabaceae): ???

Jacobsenia (Mesembryanthemaceae): commemorates the German horticulturist and botanist Hermann Johannes Heinrich Jacobsen (1898-1978), specialist in succulent plants and Curator of the Kiel Botanical Garden.

Jacquesfelixia (Poaceae): honors the French botanist Henri Jacques-Félix (1907- ), explorer and plant collector in West Africa.

Jacquemontia (Convolvulaceae): named for the French naturalist Victor V. Jacquemont (1801-1832), explorer, plant collector, botanist, made collections for the Royal Museum of Paris. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names) "Born in Paris on August 8, 1801, the youngest of four sons of Venceslas Jacquemont and Rose Laisné, Victor Jacquemont was one of the rising stars of French natural history in the 1820's and an archetype for the scientist in the Romantic era. Combining youth, genius, and a rhapsodic love of nature with a life filled with masculine affection, star-crossed romance, and exotic climes, Jacquemont epitomized the romantic intellectual right up to the time of his untimely death in the Himalayas. In a career in which ill fortune and good fortune walked hand in hand, the figure of Jacquemont has all but overshadowed his substantial scientific accomplishments. The surviving correspondence of the ill-starred French botanist, Victor Jacquemont and his friend, Pierre Achille Marie Chaper (1795-1874) consists of 106 letters pertaining to the development of Jacquemont's scientific career and their personal and social commitments." (website of the American Philosophical Society)

Jaegerina (Pterobryaceae): ???

Jamesbrittenia (Scrophulariaceae): was named after James Britten, a British botanist (1846-1924).

Jamesoniella (Jungermanniaceae): named as is genus Jamesonia for Scottish botanist William Jameson (1796-1873)."William Jameson was born in Edinburgh in 1796 and studied at Edinburgh's Royal College of Surgeons ca. 1814-1818. Between 1818 and 1826, he made several voyages as a ship's surgeon, first to Baffin's Bay and later to South America. In 1826 he settled in Quito, Ecuador, and in the following year he was appointed professor of chemistry and botany at the University there. He was made assayer to the mint in 1832 and director in 1861. In 1869 he went back to Edinburgh (by way of Argentina) to visit his sons, and returned to Ecuador in 1872. He died shortly thereafter. Jameson carried out botanical investigations at Baffin's Bay, in Ecuador, and in other South American countries; corresponded with Scottish and English botanists; sent plant specimens back to Great Britain (possibly elsewhere?); and published articles in a half dozen British and Scottish botanical journals. In 1864 he was appointed by the Ecuadorean government to write a flora of Ecuador. Volumes 1 and 2 of his Synopsis Plantarum Aequatoriensium (in Spanish) were published in 1865, but the work was not completed. [The British Museum has the text of the unpublished 3rd volume, p. 1-136; the U.S. Department of Agriculture Library has a Photostat of this.] Jameson apparently also continued his studies of chemistry, as one would expect from his position as assayer to the mint. The biographical sources consulted did not mention any correspondence with chemists or any publications on chemistry, but the Gray Herbarium archives contain what appears to be a manuscript for a text on chemistry, probably never published." (Harvard University)

jamesonii (Gerbera/Asteraceae): the species was named after Robert Jameson who collected live specimens while on a prospecting expedition to the Barberton district in 1884, even though the species had been collected on three earlier occasions by other people.

Jaumea (Asteraceae): commemorates the French botanist Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire (1772-1845). (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Jensenia (Pallaviciniaceae): ???

Jensenobotrya (Mesembryanthemaceae): named after a certain Mr. Emil Jensen, a Namibian farmer.

Jordaaniella (Aizoaceae): was named for Professor Pieter Gerhardus Jordaan (1913-1987), Professor of Botany at the University of Stellenbosch in 1984 and a specialist in the Proteaceae.

josephinae (Brunsvigia/Amaryllidaceae): the specific name 'josephinae' was named in honor of the Empress Josephine, Napoleon's first wife. (PlantzAfrica)

josephinae (Felicia/Asteraceae): named after Dr Josephine (Jo) Beyers, assistant curator of the Compton Herbarium. (PlantzAfrica)

Julbernardia (Fabaceae): honors a Mr. Jules Bernard, a former governor of Gabon.

Jumellea (Orchidaceae): dedicated to the noted French botanist Henri Lucien Jumelle (1866-1935), plant physiologist and plant collector in West Africa and Madagascar, Director of the Musée Colonial of Marseille.

Jungermannia (Jungermanniaceae): after Ludwig Jungermann (1572-1653), a professor of botany in Giessen and Altdorf bei Nürnberg.

junodii (Monodora/Annonaceae): the specific epithet honors Rev. Henri Alexandre Junod (1863–1934), a missionary stationed for much of his career at Shiluvane in Limpopo Provinc . His collection of plants from there, the lowveld of Mpumalanga and parts of Mozambique, is an important early historical record of the flora of these areas. (PlantzAfrica)

Juratzkaea (Stereophyllaceae): ???

Justicia (Acanthaceae): named after James Justice, a Scottish horticulturist and botanist of the eighteenth century.

Juttadinteria (Mesembryanthemaceae): named after Mrs. Jutta Dinter, wife of German botanist and explorer Moritz Kurt Dinter.

juttae (Cyphostemma/Vitaceae): named for Jutta Dinter, the wife of professor K. Dinter, one of the authors.

Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae): honors German physician Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716), traveller, naturalist, 1685-1693 East India Co., secretary of the Swedish embassy to Russia, and physician to the Count of Lippe. (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names)

Kamiesbergia (Amaryllidaceae): possibly referring to the Kamiesberg Mountains and not to a person.

Kaulfussia (Asteraceae): after German botanist Georg Friedrich Kaulfuss (1786-1830), author and professor of botany.

Keetia (Rubiaceae): honors the South African botanist and plant collector Dr. Johan Diederik Möhr Keet (1882-1967), former Director of Forestry.

Kensitia (Mesembryanthemaceae): commemorates the South African botanist Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus (née Kensit) (1877-1970), daughter-in-law of Harry Bolu