John Christopher Willis

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John Christopher Willis (born February 20, 1868 in Birkenhead near Liverpool , † March 21, 1958 ) was a British botanist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Willis ".

Live and act

Willis studied at Liverpool University (University College) and Cambridge University (Gonville and Caius College). In 1896 he became director of the Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya on Ceylon (he also founded the Annals of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya) and in 1912 director of the Botanical Gardens of Rio de Janeiro . From 1915 he was back in Cambridge. He later moved to Montreux .

During his time in Ceylon he developed the Age and Area Hypothesis: the areas populated by the plants correspond to the age of the species, but this can be strongly influenced by climatic conditions, local barriers and human influence. In response to criticism (for example from Edmund Ware Sinnott , Edward W. Berry , Merritt Lyndon Fernald , Philip P. Calvert), he specified the hypothesis to the effect that it does not apply to individual species, but to a closely related group of species. The hypothesis is now considered outdated.

He was also a critic of natural selection. After him, new species emerged through mutation (changes to the chromosomes) and evolution was less gradual than volatile. He represented a version of orthogenesis .

He published, among other things, on Podostemaceae .

From 1901 to 1911 he was editor of the Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradenya and from 1924 to 1939 editor of the Empire Growing Cotton Review.

Honors

In 1958 he was posthumously awarded the Darwin Wallace Medal . He was a Fellow of the Royal Society (1919) and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (1897). After him, the plant genus Willisia is Warm. named from the Podostemaceae family.

Fonts

  • Studies in the Morphology and Ecology of the Podostemaceæ of Ceylon and India. 1902 (digitized version)
  • A Manual and Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns, 2 volumes, 1908
  • Agriculture in the tropics. An elementary treatise, 1909
  • The Distribution of Species in New Zealand, 1916
  • The Relative Age of Endemic Species and Other Controversial Points, 1917
  • Age and Area: A Study of Geographical Distribution and Origin of Species, 1922
  • The Course of Evolution by Differentiation Or Divergent Mutation Rather Than by Selection, 1940
  • The Birth and Spread of Plants, 1949

as editor:

  • Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradenya. I, Colombo and London 1901/02 (digitized version)
  • Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradenya. II, Colombo and London
  • Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradenya. III, Colombo and London 1906 (digitized version)
  • Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradenya. IV, Colombo and London 1907/10 (digitized version )
  • Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradenya. V, Colombo and London 1911/14 (digitized version )

literature

  • WB Turrill: John Christopher Willis 1868–1958, Biographical Memoirs Fellows Royal Society 1958

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Willis, John Christopher
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British botanist
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Birkenhead
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1958