Name Wan Cheng Role Botanist | Died 1983 | |
Professor Wan Chun Cheng (Chinese: 郑万钧; pinyin: Zhèng Wànjūn, 1908–1987) was one of the most eminent Chinese botanists of the 20th century. Initially one of the Chinese plant collectors who followed in the wake of the Europeans after 1920, he became one of the world's leading authorities on the taxonomy of gymnosperms. Working at the National Central University in Nanjing, he was instrumental in the identification in 1944 of the Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides previously known only from fossils. The plant Juniperus chengii is named in his honour.
NB: Prof. Cheng is named Wan-Chun, Wang-Chun, or Wan-chün Cheng in some treatises. Moreover, the Harvard University Herbaria Index of Botanists gives alternative lifespans of 1908–1983 and 1903–1985.[1][2]