Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch

Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (5 February 1714 in Leipzig – 5 October 1786 in Berlin) was a German physician and botanist known for pioneer investigations of plant sexuality and reproduction.

He studied medicine and other subjects at the University of Leipzig (1728–35), where one of his instructors was naturalist Johann Ernst Hebenstreit (1703–1757). From 1742 he gave lectures in physiology, botany and materia medica at the University of Frankfurt, afterwards relocating to Berlin as a professor of botany at the Collegium Medico-chirurgicum and director of the local botanical garden. Beginning in 1770, he gave lectures at the recently established institute of forestry, where he was instrumental in providing a scientific basis for the field of forestry.

In his experiments involving plant movement, he demonstrated the influence that climatic factors had upon plant organs. Also, his views on the role that insects play in pollination of plants was considered to be ahead of its time.

The botanical genus Gleditsia (family Fabaceae) is named in his honor, as is the botanical journal "Gleditschia". In Berlin-Schöneberg, a thoroughfare called Gleditschstraße bears his name.

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