Person

Behr, Hermann Hans (1818 - 1904)

Dr (MD)

Born
18 August 1818
Goethen, Germany
Died
6 March 1904
San Francisco, California, United States of America
Occupation
Botanical collector, Medical practitioner and Pharmacist

Summary

Hermann Hans Behr qualified as a doctor in Berlin in 1843 but travelled to Australia the year after to pursue his interest in anthropology, botany and entomology. From 1844 to 1845 and from 1848 to 1849 he lived in South Australia observing and documenting the culture of local Aboriginal nations, and collecting insect and plant specimens. He described many new insect species and most of his plant specimens were sent to and described by his friend Ferdinand Mueller. Behr later lived and worked in California and was involved in the introduction of Australian plants to that region. He described Eucalyptus odorata Behr (1847), and his name is commemorated in the Californian genus Behria (Liliaceae) and about 40 species of Australian plants. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds over 300 of Behr's specimens.

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Details

Chronology

1844 - 1845
Career event - Collected insect and plant specimens in South Australia
1847
Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus odorata Behr
1848 - 1849
Career event - Collected insect and plant specimens in South Australia
1855
Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus behriana F.Muell. was named for Behr in acknowledgement of his collecting work

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • Behr, H. H., Synopsis of the genera of vascular plants in the vicinity of San Francisco, with an attempt to arrange them according to evolutionary principles (San Francisco: Payot, Upham, 1884), 165 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Behr, H. H., 'Changes in the fauna and flora of California', Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 2 (1) (1888), 94-99. Details
  • Brelag, Allan H., 'Hans Hermann Behr (1818 - 1904): botanist, entomologist, anthropologist, humorist and dangerous?', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 150 (1) (2016), 23-30. Details
  • Kraehenbuehl, D. N., 'Dr. H. H. Behr's Two Visits to South Australia in 1844-45 and 1848-49', Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, 3 (1) (1981), 101-123. Details
  • Schlechtendal, D.F.L. von, 'Suedaustralische Pflanzen. II. Bestimmung und Beschreibung der von Dr Behr in Suedaustralien gesammelten Pflanzen.', Linnaea (1847), 545-672. Details

Resources

See also

  • Hall, Norman, Botanists of the Eucalypts: short biographies of people who have named eucalypts, whose names have been given to species or who have collected type material (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1978), 101 pp. Details

Rebecca Rigby and Neville Walsh

Created: 28 June 2012, Last modified: 2 August 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P005173b.htm

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