August Wilhelm Eichler, also known under his Latinized name, Augustus Guilielmus Eichler (22 April 1839 – 2 March 1887), was a German botanist who developed a new system of classification of plants to reflect the concept of evolution.
Born in Neukirchen, Hesse, Eichler studied at the University of Marburg, Germany, and in 1871 became Professor of Botany at Technische Hochschule (Technical University) of Graz and director of the botanical garden in that city.[1] In 1872 he received an appointment at the University of Kiel, where he remained until 1878 when he became director of the herbarium at the University of Berlin. He died in Berlin on March 2, 1887 of leukaemia.
Eichler made important contributions to the study of the comparative structure of flowers (mainly on floral symmetry in his work Blütendiagramme). He wrote extensively on the Coniferae, Cycadaceae and other plant groups of Brazil.[2]
The Eichler System divided the plant kingdom into non-floral plants (Cryptogamae) and floral plants (Phanerogamae). It was the first to accept the concept of evolution and therefore also the first to be considered phylogenetic.[3] Moreover, Eichler was the first taxonomist to separate the Phanerogamae into Angiosperms and Gymnosperms and the former into Monocotyledonae and Dicotyledonae.[4]
The Eichler system was the foundation for Adolf Engler's System and was widely accepted in Europe and other parts of the world.
Eichler, August W. (1875). Blüthendiagramme: construirt und erläutert. 2 vols. [Floral diagrams]. Leipzig: W. Engelmann. Retrieved 17 May 2015. Volume I: 1875Volume II: 1878Syllabus der Vorlesungen über Phanerogamenkunde Lipsius und Tischer, Kiel 1876.Subsequent editions published as Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik, 2nd ed. 1880, 3rd ed. 1883, 4th ed. 1886, 5th 1890Eichler, August W. (1880) [1876]. Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik (2nd ed.). Berlin: Borntraeger. Eichler, August W. (1883) [1876]. Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik (3rd ed.). Berlin: Borntraeger. Eichler, August W. (1886) [1876]. Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik (4th ed.). Berlin: Borntraeger. Eichler, August W. (1890) [1876]. Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik (5th ed.). Berlin: Borntraeger. Flora Brasiliensis (Flora of Brazil) editor after death of Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius in 1868 until 1887, succeeded by Ignatz Urban (Available online at Botanicus.org Website)Beiträge zur Morphologie und Systematik der Marantaceen (1884)Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Palmenblätter (1885)Caroli Frid. Phil. Martii Flora Brasiliensis, siveFlora Brasiliensis, enumeratio plantarum in Brasilia hactenus detectarum :quas suis aliorumque botanicorum studiis descriptas et methodo naturali digestas partim icone illustratas /ediderunt Carolus Fridericus Philippus de Martius et Augustus Guilielmus Eichler ; iisque defunctis successor Ignatius Urban ; with Martius, Karl Friedrich Philipp von, 1794-1868, Endlicher, István László, 1804-1849, Fenzl, Eduard, 1808-1879, Mary, Benj, Oldenburg, R.Urban and Ignaz, 1848-
