Karl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher
Encyclopedia
Karl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher (2 August 1799 Dillenburg
, Hessen, Germany - 13 December 1858 Cape Town
), was a botanical
and insect
collector who collected extensively in South Africa
. He was the author, with Christian Friedrich Ecklon
, of Enumeratio Plantarum Africae Australis (1835-7), a descriptive catalogue of South African plants.
In 1816 Zeyher was apprenticed to his uncle Johann Michael Zeyher who was head gardener at the ducal gardens of Schwetzingen
. Here he met Franz Sieber
and was talked into a partnership with the aim of collecting and selling natural history specimens - a burgeoning industry in the 19th century. They sailed for Mauritius
in August 1822, however Zeyher was left at the Cape while Sieber went on to Mauritius and Australia. On his return in April 1824, Sieber picked up the specimens collected by Zeyher, assuring him of payment in due course. No payment ever materialised and Zeyher became aware that he would be forced to operate on his own. He journeyed east to Uitenhage
in 1825 and north beyond Clanwilliam in 1828. The resulting specimens were sent to his uncle at Schwetzingen.
In 1829 Ecklon returned to the Cape from Europe where he had sold his specimens through the Unio Itineraria
run by Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter
(1787-1860) and Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel
(1783-1856) at Esslingen. Zeyher and Ecklon decided to collaborate in their collecting. Ecklon sailed for Algoa Bay to collect in the Eastern Cape and Zeyher travelled north by ox-wagon. Zeyher's route took him through the Clanwilliam and Cederberg
area, from where he followed the Olifants River
to its mouth. Here Zeyher ran across Drege on 23 May 1831. He collected in the area for some time, travelling on to Bitterfontein and the Kamiesberge
. From here he went further north up to the Orange River, eventually reaching its mouth. Little rain had fallen and the landscape was parched, causing considerable losses among his oxen.
In the meanwhile Ecklon had returned to Cape Town from his trip, and put some work into his collection while awaiting Zeyher. They met up again at Tulbagh
, where they scaled the mountains in the area as well as going up the Groot Winterhoekberg, gathering a rich collection of plants.
and back to Swellendam
, where they once again came across Drege on 5 November 1831. Crossing the Langeberg
into the Karoo
, they collected extensively along the Gourits River and the Swartberg
. Turning south again they crossed the Outeniqua Mountains, visiting George
and Knysna
, before following the Langkloof
to Uitenhage and Algoa Bay
, from where they shipped their collection back to Cape Town.
Travelling further north through the Albany
and Somerset East
districts, then east over the Fish, Koonap and Kat Rivers, and again north over the Winterberg, they came to Tamboekieland in the area of the present Queenstown
. From here they followed the Kei River to its source in the Stormberg.
By this time their collections had grown so large that Ecklon was detailed to leave for Europe in 1832 to dispose of the specimens. Zeyher remained in Tamboekieland since Drege notes that he met him at Shiloh Mission south of Queenstown on 29 November 1832. Zeyher then returned to Uitenhage where he found employment in the service of Joachim Brehm, an apothecary and collector who had created one of the finest gardens in the Eastern Cape. At this time Ecklon was in Hamburg seeing to the publication of their joint paper Enumeratio Plantarum Africae Australis which appeared in three parts between 1834 and 1837. Apparently Ecklon's visit to Hamburg was cut short by a warehouse fire that destroyed the greater part of their collections. Financially Ecklon was crippled and sold his personal set of specimens to Sonder before returning to the Cape in late 1837 or early 1838. He lived for another 30 years, but his mental and physical strength had been broken by the setbacks and he ceased collecting.
Zeyher had in turn become dispirited by events, and had struck out on his own before Ecklon's return. He went back to the Uitenhage area and forwarded his new collections to WJ Hooker and NB Ward of London. While in Uitenhage, Zeyher had put together an extensive collection of indigenous wood samples together with flowering and fruiting herbarium specimens. These were destined for the Berlin Museum and a favourable price had been agreed upon. Misfortune continued to haunt Zeyher, however, and the ship carrying this precious collection was lost at sea.
)
Zeyher is commemorated in the genera Zeyheria Mart., Zeyherella (Engl.) Aubrèv. & Pellegr. and in a large number of specific names. His personal herbarium
is at the South African Museum, though Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Pappe
(1803-1862) replaced most of the labels with his own.
Dillenburg
Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....
, Hessen, Germany - 13 December 1858 Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
), was a botanical
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
collector who collected extensively in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He was the author, with Christian Friedrich Ecklon
Christian Friedrich Ecklon
Christian Friedrich Ecklon was a Danish botanical collector and apothecary.Ecklon collected extensively in South Africa. His first visit was in 1823, as first an apothecary's apprentice and then pharmacist, looking for plants with medicinal value...
, of Enumeratio Plantarum Africae Australis (1835-7), a descriptive catalogue of South African plants.
In 1816 Zeyher was apprenticed to his uncle Johann Michael Zeyher who was head gardener at the ducal gardens of Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen is a German town situated in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim.Schwetzingen is one of the 5 biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and it is a medium-sized centre including the cities and municipalities of...
. Here he met Franz Sieber
Franz Sieber
Franz Wilhelm Sieber , was a botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia.-Early Life:Franz Sieber was born in Prague, on 30 March 1789....
and was talked into a partnership with the aim of collecting and selling natural history specimens - a burgeoning industry in the 19th century. They sailed for Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
in August 1822, however Zeyher was left at the Cape while Sieber went on to Mauritius and Australia. On his return in April 1824, Sieber picked up the specimens collected by Zeyher, assuring him of payment in due course. No payment ever materialised and Zeyher became aware that he would be forced to operate on his own. He journeyed east to Uitenhage
Uitenhage
Uitenhage is a South African town with 275,185 inhabitants in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. The town's name is pronounced by English speakers and in Afrikaans...
in 1825 and north beyond Clanwilliam in 1828. The resulting specimens were sent to his uncle at Schwetzingen.
In 1829 Ecklon returned to the Cape from Europe where he had sold his specimens through the Unio Itineraria
Unio Itineraria
Unio Itineraria was a German Scientific Society.Supported by William I of Württemberg, Unio Itineraria was established to promote scientific investigation through the collection and distribution of determined plant specimens....
run by Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter
Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter
Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter was a German botanist and Protestant minister who was a native of Stuttgart. He was the father of geologist Ferdinand Hochstetter ....
(1787-1860) and Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel
Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel
Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel was a German physician and an authority on grasses.Steudel lived in Esslingen where with Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter he organized Unio Itineraria.- References :...
(1783-1856) at Esslingen. Zeyher and Ecklon decided to collaborate in their collecting. Ecklon sailed for Algoa Bay to collect in the Eastern Cape and Zeyher travelled north by ox-wagon. Zeyher's route took him through the Clanwilliam and Cederberg
Cederberg
The Cederberg mountains and nature reserve are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam Cedar , which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock...
area, from where he followed the Olifants River
Oliphants/Doring River
The Olifants River is a river in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The river is approximately 285 km long with a catchment area of 46, are220 km² and flows into the Atlantic Ocean...
to its mouth. Here Zeyher ran across Drege on 23 May 1831. He collected in the area for some time, travelling on to Bitterfontein and the Kamiesberge
Kamiesberge
The Kamiesberge , is a mountain range of jumbled granite inselbergs or bornhardts dotted over sandy plains and centered around Kamieskroon in Namaqualand in South Africa. In appearance the range is very like the Matopos of Zimbabwe...
. From here he went further north up to the Orange River, eventually reaching its mouth. Little rain had fallen and the landscape was parched, causing considerable losses among his oxen.
In the meanwhile Ecklon had returned to Cape Town from his trip, and put some work into his collection while awaiting Zeyher. They met up again at Tulbagh
Tulbagh
Tulbagh is a town in the Tulbagh valley and is situated in the Witzenberg Local Municipality, with the valley called "Die Land van Waveren" locally. Closest towns are Wolseley, Prince Alfred's Hamlet, Gouda and Ceres in the Boland district of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.The valley has...
, where they scaled the mountains in the area as well as going up the Groot Winterhoekberg, gathering a rich collection of plants.
Expedition to Kaffraria 1831-32
Ecklon and Zeyher left Cape Town in October 1831 on a collecting trip to the eastern borders of the Cape Colony. Passing through Caledon they went down to Cape AgulhasCape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas is a rocky headland in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the official dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and back to Swellendam
Swellendam
Swellendam is the third oldest town in the Republic of South Africa, a town with 28,072 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 National monuments most of them buildings of Cape Dutch architecture....
, where they once again came across Drege on 5 November 1831. Crossing the Langeberg
Langeberg
The Langeberg Mountain Range is a mountain range situated in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The range runs in a generally east-west direction and is approximately 170 km long. The Langeberg's most westerly point is located 35 km west of the town of Swellendam; the range ends some 30 km...
into the Karoo
Karoo
The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...
, they collected extensively along the Gourits River and the Swartberg
Swartberg
The Swartberg mountains make up a mountain range that runs roughly east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo in the Western Cape province of South Africa...
. Turning south again they crossed the Outeniqua Mountains, visiting George
George, Western Cape
George is a city with 203,253 inhabitants in South Africa's Western Cape province. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre and the administrative and commercial hub of the Garden Route.- Location :...
and Knysna
Knysna
Knysna is a town with 76,431 inhabitants in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and is part of the Garden Route. It lies 34 degrees south of the equator, and is 72 kilometres east from the town of George on the N2 highway, and 25 kilometres west of Plettenberg Bay on the same road.-History:A...
, before following the Langkloof
Langkloof
Langkloof is a 160 km long valley in South Africa, lying between Herold, a small village north of George, and Humansdorp. The kloof was given its name by Isaq Schrijver in 1689, and more thoroughly explored by a later expedition under ensign August Frederik Beutler in 1752.The valley has been...
to Uitenhage and Algoa Bay
Algoa Bay
Algoa Bay is a wide inlet along the South African east coast, some 425 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. It is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to 436 m deep...
, from where they shipped their collection back to Cape Town.
Travelling further north through the Albany
Albany, South Africa
Albany, South Africa was a district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa...
and Somerset East
Somerset East, Eastern Cape
Somerset East is a town in the Blue Crane Route in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which was founded by Lord Charles Somerset in 1825.The Blue Crane Route follows the national road R63 from Pearston, via Somerset East, to Cookhouse...
districts, then east over the Fish, Koonap and Kat Rivers, and again north over the Winterberg, they came to Tamboekieland in the area of the present Queenstown
Queenstown, Eastern Cape
Queenstown, named after Queen Victoria, is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly half way in between the towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom. It is currently the commercial, administrative, and educational centre of the prosperous surrounding farming district...
. From here they followed the Kei River to its source in the Stormberg.
By this time their collections had grown so large that Ecklon was detailed to leave for Europe in 1832 to dispose of the specimens. Zeyher remained in Tamboekieland since Drege notes that he met him at Shiloh Mission south of Queenstown on 29 November 1832. Zeyher then returned to Uitenhage where he found employment in the service of Joachim Brehm, an apothecary and collector who had created one of the finest gardens in the Eastern Cape. At this time Ecklon was in Hamburg seeing to the publication of their joint paper Enumeratio Plantarum Africae Australis which appeared in three parts between 1834 and 1837. Apparently Ecklon's visit to Hamburg was cut short by a warehouse fire that destroyed the greater part of their collections. Financially Ecklon was crippled and sold his personal set of specimens to Sonder before returning to the Cape in late 1837 or early 1838. He lived for another 30 years, but his mental and physical strength had been broken by the setbacks and he ceased collecting.
Zeyher had in turn become dispirited by events, and had struck out on his own before Ecklon's return. He went back to the Uitenhage area and forwarded his new collections to WJ Hooker and NB Ward of London. While in Uitenhage, Zeyher had put together an extensive collection of indigenous wood samples together with flowering and fruiting herbarium specimens. These were destined for the Berlin Museum and a favourable price had been agreed upon. Misfortune continued to haunt Zeyher, however, and the ship carrying this precious collection was lost at sea.
Expedition to the interior with Joseph Burke 1840-1842
(see under Joseph BurkeJoseph Burke II
Joseph Burke was a collector of plants and animals for Lord Derby.-1839-1840:...
)
Zeyher is commemorated in the genera Zeyheria Mart., Zeyherella (Engl.) Aubrèv. & Pellegr. and in a large number of specific names. His personal herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
is at the South African Museum, though Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Pappe
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Pappe
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Pappe was a German-born botanist who was a native of Hamburg.He studied medicine and botany at Leipzig, and in 1831 relocated to Cape Town as a physician. His primary focus soon turned to botany, and he began performing extensive investigations of South African flora...
(1803-1862) replaced most of the labels with his own.