Adalbert Geheeb

Who was Adalbert Geheeb?

Adalbert Geheeb was a German botanist specializing in mosses. The son of a pharmacist, he studied natural history as a pastime, and published extensively.

In 1864-65 he studied pharmacy in Jena. Up until 1892, he served as a pharmacist in his hometown of Geisa, afterwards working as a private scholar in Freiburg im Breisgau. He was a corresponding member of the Royal Botanical Society of London and co-founder of the Rhönklubs in Gersfeld.

In 1909 his herbarium contained 50,000 items representing 1300 species. He was the author of more than 50 scientific papers on mosses. The genus Geheebia is named after him, as are species with the epithet of geheebii, an example being Brachythecium geheebii.