Species Mezleria stenosiphon

Derivation uncertain. Probably for Johann Georg Metzler (1761–1833) who, for personal reasons, took the pseudonym of Karl Ludwig Giesecke. Giesecke studied law and mineralogy at the University of Göttingen (1781–1784). From 1784–1800 he became an actor, stage manager, writer, poet and librettist for more than 15 operas. From 1801 he studied mineralogy, surveying and mining and became a mineral dealer, collector and tutor in Copenhagen. He obtained permission from Danish King Christian VII to explore the geology of the Faroe Islands (in 1805) and Greenland (1806–1807). As a result of the Napoleonic Wars he had to stay in Greenland until 1813. During this time he collected minerals and botanical specimens, mainly bryophytes, which were sent to the botanist Lorenz Chrysanth von Vest, who named Campanula gieseckiana in honour of Giesecke. In 1813 Giesecke obtained the position of professorship of mineralogy in the Royal Dublin Society, which he held until his death. (Note: WPU Jackson suggests that ‘Mezler’ and ‘Metzler’ were interchangeable or that the genus name was typography.)