George Engelmann (1809-1884)

George Engelmann described many species and varieties of conifers in the American west. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, he earned a medical degree (with a focus on medicinal botany), in the process becoming acquainted with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Louis Agassiz. In 1832 he emigrated to the United States, first having a botanical adventure in the Arkansas swamps that nearly killed him with a fever. By 1835 he established a medical practice in St. Louis, which flourished and eventually gave him financial independence. From 1842 onwards he published abundantly in various fields of botany, including a monograph on the Cactaceae which was for some time the authoritative work on the family. He particularly preferred difficult genera and families, notably the conifers. He largely established the St. Louis Academy of Sciences, and for many years edited the Transactions; in its day, this was a highly reputable journal. A fairly detailed biography is available at Wikipedia, and also in his 1885 Obituary in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club.

Gymnosperms named by or for George Engelmann include:

• Pinus brachyptera Engelmann 1848
• Pinus osteosperma Engelmann 1848 (now P. cembroides subsp. cembroides var. cembroides)
• Pinus chihuahuana Engelmann 1848 (now P. leiophylla subsp. chihuahuana)
• Pinus edulis Engelmann 1848
• Pinus strobiformis Engelmann 1848
• Pinus macrophylla Engelmann 1848 (now P. engelmannii)
• Pinus engelmannii Carrière 1854
• Pinus aristata Engelmann 1862
• Pinus parryana Engelmann 1862 (now P. quadrifolia)
• Picea engelmannii Parry 1863
• Pinus greggii Engelmann 1868
• Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann 1871
• Abies subalpina Engelmann 1876 (now A. lasiocarpa var. bifolia)
• Juniperus californica var. utahensis Engelmann 1878 (now J. osteosperma)
• Juniperus occidentalis var. monosperma Engelmann 1878 (now J. monosperma)
• Pinus arizonica Engelmann 1878
• Picea pungens Engelmann 1879
• Picea nigra var. rubra (DuRoi) Engelmann 1879 (now P. rubens)
• Pinus flexilis var. reflexa Engelmann 1879
• Pinus elliottii Engelmann 1880
• Pinus contorta var. murrayana Engelmann 1880
• Pinus contorta subsp. murrayana Engelmann 1880
• Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum Engelmann 1880
• Pseudotsuga douglasii var. macrocarpa (Vasey) Engelmann 1880 (now P. macrocarpa)
• Pinus wrightii Engelmann 1880 (now P. cubensis)
• Tsuga caroliniana Engelmann 1881
• Pinus latisquama Engelmann 1882 (now P. pinceana)
• Ephedra aspera Engelmann 1883
• Ephedra pedunculata Engelmann 1883