Carl Borivoj Presl

Carl Borivoj Presl (; 17 February 1794 – 2 October 1852) was a Czech botanist.

Life

Presl was born on 17 February 1794 in Prague. His older brother Jan Svatopluk Presl was also a noted botanist. He lived his entire life in Prague, and was a professor of botany at the University of Prague (1833–1852). He made an expedition to Sicily in 1817, and with his brother, published a "Flora bohemica" titled "Flora čechica: indicatis medicinalibus, oeconomicis technologicisque plantis" in 1819. This work became the basis of Czech botanical nomenclature, but unlike his brother, Carl Borivoj wrote in German and Latin and not in Czech. From 1822, he was the custodian of the zoological and botanical collections of the National Museum (that time called Patriotic Museum) in Prague. The botanical genera Preslaea Mart., 1827 from the family Boraginaceae, (now a synonym of Euploca ) and Preslia Opiz, 1824 of the family Lamiaceae (it is also now a synonym of Woodsia ) are dedicated to the two brothers.

He spent nearly 15 years producing the exsiccata "Reliquiae Haenkeanae" (published from 1825 to 1835), a work based on botanical specimens collected in the Americas by Thaddäus Haenke.

Presl died on 2 October 1852 in Prague. "Flora sicula, exhibens plantas vasculosas in Sicilia aut sponte crescentes aut frequentissime cultas, secundum systema naturale digestas", 1826. "Symbolae botanicae, sive, Descriptiones et icones plantarum novarum aut minus cognitarum", 1832. "Catalogue of Ferns: After the Arrangement of C. Sprengel", 1841; Whittaker and Company, 1841. Hymenophyllaceae, 1845 – Monograph on Hymenophyllaceae. "Supplementum Tentaminis Pteridographiae", 1847. Die Gefässbündel im Stipes der Farrn, 1848 – The vascular bundles in the stipes of ferns.