Johan Martin Christian Lange

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Johan Martin Christian Lange (1818 – 1898) was a Danish botanist.

He held the post of Librarian at the Botanical library of the University of Copenhagen from 1851 to 1858. He was Director of the Botanical Garden there from 1856 to 1876, the Reader of botany at the Danish Technical University from 1857 to 1862, and Reader of Botany at the Royal Danish Agricultural University from 1858 to 1893, achieving full professor standing in 1892. He began editing the Flora Danica in 1858, and was its last editor. He travelled throughout Europe, completing extensive studies on the flora of Denmark, Greenland and other European countries, especially Spain. (Willkomm & Lange, Prodromus Florae Hispanicae, 1861-80).

He expanded on the classification developed by Linnaeus, writing Plantenavne og navngivningsregler (Plant-names and rules for name-giving) which was influential in developing the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Saint Louis Code), the system in use today.

Charles Darwin borrowed a book written by Lange, which he failed to return in a timely manner as mentioned by Darwin in his correspondence. [1]

[edit] Partial List of Publications

Prodromus Florae Hispanicae
Icones plantarum sponte nascentium in regnis Daniae et Norvegiae, in ducatibus Slesvici et Holsatiae et in comitatibus Oldenburgi et Delmenhorstiae: (Pictures of the plants growing wild in the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, in the duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, and in the principalities of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst)
Ordbog over Danmarks platenavne. Udg. af det Danske sprog- og litteraturselskab ved Johan Lange (Dictionary of Danish names for plants. Collected from speech and the literature by Johan Lange) 3 vol.
Conspectus florae groenlandicae: Tillæg til fanerogamerne og karsporeplanterne (Overview of the plants of Greenland Supplement to phanerogams and spore-bearing plants)
Conspectus florae groenlandicae: Grønlands mosser (Muscineae) (Overview of the plants of Greenland)
Conspectus florae groenlandicae: 1. Fanerogamer og karsporeplanter (Overview of the plants of Greenland Phanerogams and spore-bearing plants)