Species Jensenobotrya vanheerdei

For Emil Jensen (1889–1963), German naval officer, accountant and amateur botanist. During World War I, he joined the German Royal Navy and became a lieutenant. In 1936 he emigrated to Tsumeb, South-West Africa, where his interest in succulents commenced. From 1940 to 1943 he was held at the Andalusia internment camp in South Africa, then repatriated to Germany. In Andalusia he attended lectures by Hans Herre, custodian of Stellenbosch Herbarium, which considerably improved his botanical knowledge. Jensen had a special interest in Namib flora, especially Welwitschia bainesii, and for a number of years made expeditions to the central and southern Namib Desert (and elsewhere), often with botanical colleagues such as Herre, Willy Giess and others. He published a few botanical papers and made a detailed study of the Nara plant (Acanthosicyos horrida). In 1955 he returned to South-West Africa, now Namibia, where, inter alia, he was responsible for developing the outstanding botany section of the Swakopmund museum. Gk. botrys = bunch of grapes; referring to the thick, rounded leaves.