Pier Antonio Micheli

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Pier Antonio Micheli

Pier Antonio Micheli (born December 11, 1679 in Florence , † January 1, 1737 there ) was an Italian botanist . Its official botanical author's abbreviation is " P.Micheli ".

Life

Micheli was the son of a worker and grew up in poor circumstances. He only attended elementary school, but was noticed by his great interest in plants. He was promoted, among others, by Lorenzo Magalotti (1637-1712) and Cosimo Castiglioni and also acquired the support of Cosimo III. de 'Medici as well as his successor. Cosimo gave him Tournefort's “Institutiones rei herbariae”, a work that Micheli had a strong influence.

Since he could not afford higher education, he was hired as a gardener in the Orto Botanico di Firenze ( Botanical Garden of Florence). There he soon became an assistant to Michelangelo Tilli , the professor of botany and head of the botanical garden, whom he later looked after and developed independently. In addition to this occupation, he wrote his work "Nova plantarum genera juxta Tournafortii methodum disposita" , which was published in 1729 and with which he earned the highest recognition among scholars.

In this work, which was only possible to publish with generous donors, Micheli describes around 1,900 species, 1,400 of them for the first time. Most of these species belong to the lower plants, including around 900 species of mushrooms.

The 108 attached copper plates, which he dedicated to one of the donors, represent species from the following groups:

The plant names in brackets were also dedicated to donors, were later adopted by Linnaeus and are still valid today. Numerous other names that he gave to the genres he described are still valid today; Examples are Puccinia , Botrytis , Aspergillus and Mucor .

In addition to the description and systematization of the species, Micheli also researched the development of fruiting bodies in mushrooms. He also observed the dusting of the spores in Geaster and Lycoperdon , the throwing off of the gleba in Sphaerobolus and the funiculus on the peridioles in Cyathus . He used the microscope in his examinations and discovered 4 spores in the asci of Tuber , observed the conidia of Aspergillus, the pearl-string-like cell chains of Nostoc and many other things .

In his search for the "flowers" of the mushrooms, which he believed he had discovered in the sterile marginal structures of the basidia , he also found the mushroom spores, which were described by Giambattista Della Porta in 1588 , but were then forgotten. He sown spores of many mushrooms and followed the development of the mycelium , in some cases up to the formation of the fruiting bodies.

Because of his groundbreaking discoveries in mushrooms, Micheli is considered the father of mycology .

Micheli died of pleurisy .

Dedication names

Carl von Linné named the genus Michelia of the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae) in his honor . The genus is now associated with Magnolia . The plant genus Micheliopsis H.Keng from the magnolia family was also set up in honor of Micheli.

swell

  • Heike Heklau, Heinrich Dörfelt : History of Mycology , Dietenberger Verlag, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1998, ISBN 3-927654-44-2 .
  • Karl Mägdefrau : history of botany . Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-437-20489-0 (reprint of the Stuttgart 1973 edition).
  • Moselio Schaechter: Pier Antonio Micheli. The father of modern mycology; A paean . In: McIlvainea. Official organ of the NAMA , Vol. 14 (2000), Issue 1, ISSN  0099-8400 .
  • Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti: Note della vita e delle opere di Pier 'Antonio Michelli . Le Monnier, Florence 1858.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carl von Linné: Critica Botanica . Leiden 1737, p. 93
  2. ↑ Carl von Linné: Genera Plantarum . Leiden 1742, p. 173
  3. ↑ 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 Micheli, Pier Antonio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian botanist
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1679
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1737
Place of death Florence