Elias Tillandz

Who was Elias Tillandz?

Elias Tillandz, later Tillander, was a Swedish born doctor and botanist in Finland. He was the professor of medicine at the Academy of Turku. He wrote the country's first botanical work, the Catalogus Plantarum, which was first published in 1673. As a doctor he also prepared medicines for his patients by using his extensive knowledge of plants.

According to legend Tillandz received his name when, as a student, he travelled by boat from Turku to Stockholm. On the way he became so seasick that he returned by walking around the Gulf of Bothnia, a distance of some 1000 kilometers.

A genus of epiphytic plants, Tillandsia, was named after Tillandz by Carolus Linnaeus.

This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Tillandz when citing a botanical name.