Wilhelm Micholitz

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Wilhelm Micholitz (* 1854 in Sulechów (German: Züllichau in Brandenburg ); † December 1932 ) was a Prussian, German plant hunter who collected orchids in distant lands on behalf of the German-English gardener Henry Frederick Conrad Sander . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Michol. "

Live and act

After an apprenticeship in the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover , in the Kew Gardens in London and as head of the botanical garden in Kiev (Ukraine), he worked as an "orchid hunter" for Sanders & Co. in London.

On behalf of Henry Frederick Conrad Sander's nursery in St Albans, England , Micholitz undertook a number of collecting trips, including to the Philippines (1884–1885), the Indonesian Aru Islands (1890), the Moluccas (1891), New Guinea and Sumatra ( 1891–1892), the Indonesian islands of Ambon and Natuna (1892–1898), Burma and South America (1900). Among other things, he found the species Leucophanes candidum .

In 1914 Micholitz wrote to his client Frederick Sander: "I cannot say that I am particularly grateful that you are chasing me after this damn dendrobium at this time of the year".

After long years of collecting trips, Micholitz settled down well-to-do in retirement. He lost part of his savings to the devaluation of money and his subscription to war bonds during the First World War . He died in Berlin in December 1932.

The plant species Alocasia micholitziana and Coelogyne micholitziana are named after Micholitz .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From the portrait “Hunter in the service of the orchid king” in: Kej Hielscher, Renate Hücking: Plant hunters in distant worlds in search of paradise , 2002, ISBN 3-492-04424-7

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Micholitz, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German plant hunter
DATE OF BIRTH 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Sulechów
DATE OF DEATH December 1932