- Franz Thonner
Franz Thonner (1863-1928) was an Austrian taxonomist and botanist from
Vienna . In the spring of 1896 he made his first trip to the African interior to explore the botany and people in the northern part of theCongo Basin . Besides his comprehensive collection of plants, he embarked on a thorough ethnographic study of the region.Franz Thonner was a scientist with independent means who explored
Europe andNorth Africa and in 1891, aged 28, privately published a key to the families of flowering plants of the world. Despite the work's having been translated into English in 1895, it was largely ignored in that country. A second edition of his key appeared in 1917 and was based onEngler &Prantl 's "Die naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien" and "Das Pflanzenreich".Thonner's German plant key of 1891 was translated into English for the second time in 1981 and became more accessible to English-speaking botanists, rivalling that of John Hutchinson and "Families of Angiosperms" by [http://flora.huh.harvard.edu:8080/actkey/actkey.jsp?setId=100 Bertel Hansen & Knud Rahn] (1969). The key covers
gymnosperms andangiosperms and was designed for field use. Thonner also used back-up features ensuring correct choice of the family even when there is uncertainty about classifying botanical structures. Geographical distribution is used to assist in identification.References
* [http://www.bastion-beheer.nl/thonner/introchap.html Thonner's analytical key to the families of flowering plants]
ee also
* [http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/nhnlibrary/Useful%20databases.htm Useful Plant Databases]
Books
*"Im afrikanischen Urwald. Meine Reise nach dem Kongo und der Mongalla im Jahre 1896" (Berlin, D. Reimer 1898) mit 20 Textabb., 87 Lichtdruck-Tafeln, Karten, illustr. Olwd.
*"Exkursionsflora von Europa. Anleitung zum Bestimmen der Gattungen der europäischen Blüttenpflanzen" (Berlin, 1901)
*"Die Blütenpflanzen Afrikas - Eine Anleitung zum Bestimmen der Gattungen der afrikanischen Siphonogamen" (Berlin, R. Friedländer) 1908
*"Anleitung zum Bestimmen der Familien der Blütenpflanzen (Phanerogamen)" (1917)
*"Thonner's analytical key to the families of flowering plants" edited by R. Geesink, A. J. M. Leeuwenberg, C. E. Ridsdale, J . F. Veldkamp (The Netherlands and Leiden University Press 1981) ISBN 90-220-0730-8
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