Hermann Beckler

Dr. Hermann Beckler (28 September 1828, in Höchstädt an der Donau – 10 December 1914, in Fischen im Allgäu ) was a German doctor with an interest in botany. He went to Australia to collect specimens for Ferdinand von Mueller and served as medical officer and botanist for the Victoria Exploring Expedition (better known as the Burke and Wills expedition) in 1860. His parents, Kaspar Beckler and Franziska Speth, were married on 13 February 1827 in Höchstädt an der Donau. Hermann Beckler studied medicine in Munich, Germany. On 20 June 1855, he graduated with a thesis entitled, Ueber die Uterinblennorrhoe.

By January 1859, Beckler was working at the Melbourne Hospital. but which was finally published in 1993 in English as A Journey to Cooper's Creek. A street was named Hermann-Beckler-Strasse in the Ensbach settlement of Höchstädt an der Donau with a sign, "Arzt und Forschungsreisender 1828 in Höchstädt geboren."

Career Career position - Medical practitioner in Australia Career position - Employed by F. Mueller at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Career event - Collected botanical specimens in Moreton Bay, Queensland and New South Wales rivers Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus microcorys F.Muell. Beckler collected a syntype Career event - Botanist and medical officer on the Burke and Wills Expedition

Botany His Bionomia profile (still incomplete) shows that at least 3179 of his botanical specimens still exist, and that they continue to contribute to scientific knowledge (with 8 specimens having been used in 4 scientific papers as of June 2020). These are held in at least 18 different herbaria. Specimens collected by Beckler are cared for at the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL), Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.

Some of Beckler's sketches from the Burke and Wills expedition

Aster beckleri (F.Muell.) F.Muell. (1865) Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 5(34): 69. Eurybia beckleri F.Muell. (1864) The Vegetation of the Chatham-Islands 21 Helichrysum beckleri (F.Muell.) Benth. (1867) Flora Australiensis 3: 627. Diasperus beckleri (Mull.Arg.) (1891) Kuntze Revisio Generum Plantarum 2: 598. Phyllanthus beckleri Müll.Arg. (1865) Linnaea 34: 74. Acacia beckleri Tindale (1965) in Hj. Eichler, Suppl. J. M. Black, Fl. S. Austral., ed. 2 173 (These may not be accepted names.)

Publications (incomplete) Beckler, Hermann: Ueber die Uterinblennorrhoe (on Uterine Blennorrhoaea). Doctoral Dissertation, München 1855. Beckler, Hermann: Entdeckungen in Australien. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen eines Deutschen 1855–1862. (Discoveries in Australia . Letters and records of a German 1855–1862.) Stuttgart: Thorbecke, 2000, Beckler, Hermann: Vom Edward's River nach Melbourne (From Edwards River to Melbourne). In: Das Ausland. Wochenschrift für Länder- und Völkerkunde. No. 13, 1860, S. 293–296. Beckler, Hermann: Die Musik der Vögel. In: Die Gartenlaube. 1867, S. 558–559 Beckler, Hermann: Corroberri. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Musik bei den australischen Ureinwohnern. In: Der Globus. Volume 13, 1868, S. 82 f. Beckler, Hermann: Die Ureinwohner Australiens . In: Jahresbericht des Vereins für Erdkunde zu Dresden. 1872, S. 1–18. (The Aborigines of Australia . In: Annual report of the Association for Geography of Dresden) Beckler, Hermann: A Journey to Coopers Creek. Melbourne: Miegunya Press, 1989. Translated by Stephen Jeffries .