The Anatolian plant collection of Walter Siehe (1859-1928)

Asuman Baytop

Walter Siehe (1859-1928) was a German engineer with a passion for plants, engaged in Adana in the construction of Anatolian Baghdad Railway. He purchased land in 1897 at Fındıkpınar (İçel), where he stayed about 25 years. He mainly planted fruit trees in his garden. He made excursions nearly every year in the regions of Adana, İçel, Konya, Niğde, Kayseri, Sivas and collected plant specimens which he sent to European herbaria. He especially gathered bulbous plants and exported them to European growers. The Flora of Turkey project has examined his Anatolian collection. In the Flora are cited 740 specimens of Siehe, where the great majority bear date and number in their citations. The earliest specimen is dated 1889 and the latest 1919. Basing on specimen numbers, the collection of Siehe from Anatolia may be approximatively evaluated to not less than 8000 specimens. They are distributed in 29 herbaria, one in U.S.A., one in Ankara (Turkey), the others in Europe. According to Flora of Turkey, Siehe has collected the type specimens of 66 new taxa. They come from the provinces of Adana, İçel, Niğde, Konya and Kayseri. Three of them were published by himself. In the naming of 14, he is a co-author. 10 taxa bear his name as epithet. He has published at least 22 articles related to Turkish bulbs and trees between 1897 and 1929.

Key words: Turkish flora, botanical expeditions, collectors, Walter Siehe, history of botany; Anahtar sözcükler: Türkiye florası, bitki toplamaları, toplayıcılar, Walter Siehe, botanik tarihi.