Heinrich Moritz Willkomm


Heinrich Moritz Willkomm was a German academic and botanist.
He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, later being named a professor of natural history in Tharandt. In 1868 he was appointed professor of botany and director of the botanical garden at the University of Dorpat, and from 1874 to 1892, maintained similar roles at the University of Prague.
In 1844-45 and 1850-51 he collected plants in Spain and Portugal. His main herbarium from these expeditions is kept in Coimbra and his personal herbarium was taken to Genoa. Following his tenure at Dorpat, he embarked on a scientific excursion to the Balearic Islands.
The grass genus Willkommia is named in his honor.

Written works

Willkomm's "Grundzüge der pflanzenverbreitung auf der Iberischen halbinsel" was included in Engler and Drude's "Die Vegetation der Erde". Among his numerous written efforts are the following: