Hermann Wagner and the Illustrated German Flora

Abstract

There are two authors of botanical publications with the name Hermann Wagner both born in 1824, one in Hadamar (Hesse), the other in Weißenfels (Saxony-Anhalt). For a long time it has been questionable who wrote the Illustrierte deutsche Flora (Illustrated German Flora) with the first edition 1869–1871. Evidence has been found that the author of this work was Hermann Wagner of Weißenfels who was a prolific writer especially of Natural History books for young people. In recent times even a third author, the geographer Hermann Wagner (1840–1929), has been claimed as author for the Flora. This is certainly a mistake.