Species Vahlia pentandra

For Martin Henrichsen Vahl (1749–1804), Norwegian-born Danish botanist, zoologist and author. He studied botany under Linnaeus at Uppsala University. He edited Flora Danica, published in booklets XVI–XXI (1787–1803), Eclogæ Americanæ I–IV (1796–1807), and Enumeratio Plantarum (1804), Volume 1, in the year he died – the first of 15 volumes he had worked on for 26 years. He lectured at the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden (1779–1782), made research trips to Europe and North Africa (1783–1788), became professor at the Society of Natural History in Copenhagen (1786) and of Botany at Uppsala University (1801–1804). Vahl’s library, about 3 000 volumes, was sold to the government on his death. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.