Theodor Von Heldreich (1822-1902) and His Turkish Collections

Authors: ASUMAN BAYTOP, KIT TAN

Abstract: The distinguished German botanist Theodor von Heldreich (1822-1902) visited Anatolia on at least 6 separate occasions as documented by specimens cited in Flora of Turkey and Flora Orientalis. His first visit was in 1845 and his last, to İzmir, in 1852. Within this period of less than seven years he collected c. 3000 sets of specimens. They included the types of nearly 200 new taxa and, if including syntypes and lectotypes, the figure is 207. The majority stem from the first expedition of 1845. The non-type specimens cited in the Flora are 280. It is difficult to trace Heldreich´s itinerary from the Flora alone as precise dates and numbers are rarely provided in the citations. However, by studying actual specimens deposited in herbaria we can obtain more information and this work is in progress. Heldreich´s Turkish collections are represented in 27 herbaria located in 12 European countries excluding 2 in the United States. He is commemorated by the genus Heldreichia Boiss. (Brassicaceae), which has 4 species in Turkey. Numerous other taxa bear the epithets heldreichii, heldreichianus, -a or -um. At least 18 such taxa are listed in the Flora of Turkey. Heldreich died in Athens at the age of 80. He had 3 daughters and his youngest daughter lived till the 1960s. There are no surviving descendants.

Keywords: Flora of Turkey, Heldreich, Turkish collections, type specimens

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