Rudolf Jakob Camerarius
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius or Camerer (February 12, 1665 – September 11, 1721) was a German
botanist and physician
.
Camerarius was born at Tübingen
, and became professor
of medicine
and director of the botanical gardens at Tübingen
in 1687. He is chiefly known for his investigations on the reproductive organs of plant
s (De sexu plantarum epistola (1694)).
While other botanists, such as John Ray
and Nehemiah Grew
, had observed that plants seemed to have sex
in some form, and guessed that pollen
was the male fertilizing agent, it was Camerarius who did experimental work. In studying the mulberry
, he determined that female plants not near to male (staminate) plants produced fruit
but with no seed
s. Mercurialis
and spinach
plants fared likewise. With the castor oil plant
(Ricinus) and with maize
he cut off the staminate flowers (the "tassels" of maize), and likewise observed that no seeds formed. His results were reported in the form of a letter (the epistola), and attracted immediate attention, subsequent workers extending his results from the monoecious plants he had studied to dioecious
ones as well.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
botanist and physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
.
Camerarius was born at Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, and became professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and director of the botanical gardens at Tübingen
Botanischer Garten der Universität Tübingen
The Botanischer Garten der Universität Tübingen, also known as the Botanischer Garten Tübingen or the Neuer Botanischer Garten Tübingen, is a botanical garden and arboretum maintained by the University of Tübingen...
in 1687. He is chiefly known for his investigations on the reproductive organs of plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s (De sexu plantarum epistola (1694)).
While other botanists, such as John Ray
John Ray
John Ray was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him".He published important works on botany,...
and Nehemiah Grew
Nehemiah Grew
Nehemiah Grew was an English plant anatomist and physiologist, very famously known as the "Father of Plant Physiology"...
, had observed that plants seemed to have sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
in some form, and guessed that pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
was the male fertilizing agent, it was Camerarius who did experimental work. In studying the mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
, he determined that female plants not near to male (staminate) plants produced fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
but with no seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s. Mercurialis
Mercury (plant)
Mercurialis is a genus of plants in the family Euphorbiaceae, the spurges, known commonly as the mercuries. These are slender herbs , rhizomatious perennials and woody perennials...
and spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
plants fared likewise. With the castor oil plant
Castor oil plant
The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It belongs to a monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied.Its seed is the castor bean which,...
(Ricinus) and with maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
he cut off the staminate flowers (the "tassels" of maize), and likewise observed that no seeds formed. His results were reported in the form of a letter (the epistola), and attracted immediate attention, subsequent workers extending his results from the monoecious plants he had studied to dioecious
Dioecious
Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...
ones as well.