Guillermo Kalbreyer

Wilhelm (Guillermo) Kalbreyer (1847–1912) was a German plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London to collect new plants in West Africa and South America.

According to Hortus Veitchii, the Veitch family history: Guillermo Kalbreyer, a promising young man, twenty-nine years of age, entered Messrs. Veitch's service as a plant-collector in 1876, and his first trip was to the West Coast of Africa in search of tropical flowering and foliage plants, very popular at that time.

West Africa Kalbreyer set off from Liverpool in November 1876 and arrived at the island of Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea on Christmas Eve before travelling on to Victoria in Cameroon a week later.

Whilst in Victoria, Kalbreyer met Rev. George Thomson, Kalbreyer's health deteriorated and he returned to England, bringing with him a small collection of plants and seeds, including Adenorandia kalbreyeri (originally known as "Gardenia kalbreyeri"), five species of Mussaenda (a flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae) and two new orchids: Brachycorythis kalbreyeri, a terrestrial species named by Reichenbach after its discoverer, and Pachystoma thomsonianum, an epiphyte, named, at Kalbreyer's request, in honour of George Thomson. He also brought back seeds of Pararistolochia promissa which were successfully grown at Chelsea – this was described by Masters as, "one of the most extraordinary members of an extraordinary genus." The flowers extend into three tails, which sometimes reach a length of 2 feet.

Colombia Following the disappointment of Kalbreyer's first expedition, Harry Veitch decided to send Kalbreyer to Colombia "where the climate is delightful on the highlands and mountain-slopes, though in the lowlands and along the coast almost as hot as in parts of Africa". especially the luxuriant palm trees, of which he collected specimens of more than 100 species. Here he also collected samples of the giant arum, Anthurium veitchii, continuing to send interesting finds back to the Veitch Nurseries. Cyathea kalbreyeri (Baker) Columnea kalbreyeriana (Mast.) Cryosophila kalbreyeri (Dammer ex Burret) Dennstaedtia kalbreyeri (Maxon) Masdevallia kalbreyeri (Rchb. f. ex Kraenzl.) Maxillaria kalbreyeri (Rchb. f.) Paphinia rugosa var. kalbreyeri (Rchb. f.) Spathiphyllum kalbreyeri (Maxon) Wettinia kalbreyeri (Burret)

The palm genus, Kalbreyera, was named after Kalbreyer but the only species in the genus has now been re-classified as Geonoma triandra (Burret) Wess.Boer.

The small genus of Acanthus, Kalbreyeriella (Lindau) , found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panamá and Peru, also bears Kalbreyer's name.