Laurentius Scholzius de Rosenau

Veldkamp, J. F., 2014, A revision of Cenchrus incl. Pennisetum (Gramineae) in Malesia with some general nomenclatural notes, Blumea 59 (1), pp. 59-75 : 60

Laurentius Scholzius de Rosenau (1552 –1599)

According to Chase (1920: 47) the first Cenchrus mentioned in history would have been Gramen americanum spica echinata majoribus locustis, a phrase name she attributed to Scholzius Hortus Vratislaviae (1587: ‘258’), a publication she had not seen.

About this book by the Silesian physician, horticulturist, and poet Laurentius Scholzius de Rosenau (1552–1599) Cohn (2013) wrote “Diese Ausgabe ist bisher nicht aufzufinden gewesen, wohl aber eine zweite unter dem Titel: “Catalogus arborum, fruticum ac plantarum tam indigenarum quam exoticarum horti medici D. Laur. Scholzii med. Vratisl.” Vratisl. A.C. MD.XCVIII [MD.XCIIII, corr. JFV]. 4° (Georg. Baumann.). A.W. Henschel hat in der Allgem. Gartenzeitung von Otte [Otto, corr. JFV] u. Dietrich vol. V. 1837, p. 61 [187, JFV] u. f. diesen für die Geschichte der botanischen Gartenpflege wichtigen Katalog, welcher ca. 240Arten und Varietäten in alphabetischer Ordnung aufzählt, abdrucken lassen”.This Catalogus was mentioned, but not seen by Pritzel (1848: 266). Copies are in the Bibliothek für Schlesische Landeskunde der Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien, Würzburg, in the Bayerische Staatbibliothek, München and in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Henschel (1837: 177) said that the ‘Original-Katalog’ was included because already then the ‘Hortus Vratislaviae’ was extremely rare. The last instalment contains an account of the plants in the garden of Scholzius in 1587, and lists the species of the “Hortus Vratislaviae”, and not those of the ‘Catalogus arborum’, as Cohn claimed. The only grass in both is Gramen turcicum ( Zea mays L.).