Genus Witsenia
Pictures from Observations
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For Nicolaas (Nicolaes) Witsen (1641–1717), Dutch patron of botany. He studied law, philosophy and languages at Leiden University, became a proficient cartographer, wrote a standard work on ship-building in 1671, and made the first map of Siberia in 1690. He became mayor of Amsterdam and director of the Dutch East India Company. A prolific collector, his South African collection, Codex Witsenii, of early Cape botanical and zoological paintings and manuscripts relating to the fauna, flora and landscapes was estimated, by Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738), professor of botany at Leiden, to contain more than 1 500 paintings of plants. Witsen was a supporter of Carl Peter Thunberg, who visited South Africa and collected more than 3 000 previously unknown species.