Alwin Berger

Who was Alwin Berger?

Alwin Berger was a German botanist best known for his contribution to the nomenclature of succulent plants, particularly agaves and cacti. Born in Germany he worked at the botanical gardens in Dresden and Frankfurt. From 1897 to 1914 he was curator of the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, the botanical gardens of Sir Thomas Hanbury at La Mortola, near Ventimiglia in northwestern Italy, close to the border with France. After working in Germany from 1914 to 1919, Berger studied in the United States for three years, before spending his final years as director of the department of botany of the natural history museum in Stuttgart

His main work, Die Agaven, published in 1915, described 274 species of agave, divided into 3 subgenera, Littaea, Euagave and Manfreda. He also recognised a new genus of cactus, Roseocactus, in 1925.

The genera Bergerocactus and Bergeranthus are named in his honour.