Georg Eberhard Rumphius was a German-born botanist employed by the Dutch East India Company in what is now eastern Indonesia, and is famous for his work Herbarium Amboinense. In addition to his major contributions to plant systematics, he is also remembered for his skills as an ethnographer, and his frequent defense of Ambonese peoples against colonialism.
Rumphius most significant work Het Amboinsche kruidboek or Herbarium Amboinense, is a catalogue of the plants of the island of Amboina (in modern-day Indonesia), published posthumously in 1741. The work covers 1,200 species, 930 with definite species names, and another 140 identified to genus level. He provided illustrations and descriptions for nomenclature types for 350 plants, and his mGeorg Eberhard Rumphius was a German-born botanist employed by the Dutch East India Company in what is now eastern Indonesia, and is famous for his work Herbarium Amboinense. In addition to his major contributions to plant systematics, he is also remembered for his skills as an ethnographer, and his frequent defense of Ambonese peoples against colonialism.
Rumphius most significant work Het Amboinsche kruidboek or Herbarium Amboinense, is a catalogue of the plants of the island of Amboina (in modern-day Indonesia), published posthumously in 1741. The work covers 1,200 species, 930 with definite species names, and another 140 identified to genus level. He provided illustrations and descriptions for nomenclature types for 350 plants, and his material contributed to the later development of the binomial scientific classification by Linnaeus. His book provided the basis for all future study of the flora of the Moluccas and his work is still referred to today.