Gunnar Marklund

Gunnar Marklund (5 June 1892 in Helsinki – 23 July 1964 also in Helsinki) was a Finnish botanist (taraxacologist and ranunculologist).

Biography Between 1920 and 1941 he worked as a teacher. In 1937 he received his Ph.D. From 1941 to 1959 he was the curator of the Botanical Museum of the University of Helsinki.

Scientific work

Overview Gunnar Marklund specialised in two difficult apomictic groups, the genus Taraxacum (dandelions) and the Ranunculus auricomus group (goldilock buttercups). He published four monographs, in which he described about two hundred new species, among them for example Ranunculus mendax (Markl.) Ericsson, as well as several smaller papers.

Selected publications

Die Taraxacum-Flora Estlands (1938) Die Taraxacum-Flora Nylands (1940) Outlines of evolution in the pseudogamous Ranunculus auricomus group in Finland (G. Marklund & A. Rousi, 1961) Der Ranunculus auricomus-Komplex in Finnland 1 (...) R. auricomus L. coll. (s.str.) (1961) Der Ranunculus auricomus-Komplex in Finnland 2 (...) R. fallax (W & Gr.) Schur, R. monophyllus Ovcz. und R. cassubicus L. (1965, posthumous work)

Eponymy Ranunculus marklundii (Nannf. & Julin) Ericsson [≡ Ranunculus auricomus ssp. marklundii Nannf. & Julin], a goldilock buttercup species known from Sweden and Estonia, and Taraxacum marklundii Palmgr., a dandelion species described from the Åland Islands, are named in his honour.