thunbergii from Thunberg; named after Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), student of Linnaeus, who in order to see foreign countries and to extends his knowledge sailed with a Dutch vessel to Amsterdam in 1770, where he was very kindly welcomed by N.L. Burman (see ...), who throw open for him his valuable library and rich collections for several month and asked him to investigate and name a number of objects. Thereafter he visited the museums and gardens of Leyden, the Hague and elsewhere and then he traveled by passing Rouaan -where he visited Pinard (see Pinardia)- to Paris, where he qualified himself in anatomy, surgery and natural history under the most celebrated professors. In 1771 he returned to Amsterdam, where Burman, to whom he had shown interest in making an exploring trip to the Indies, had recommended him to some rich patricians, of which the most prominent were E. de Vry Temminck, director of the Amsterdam Hortus Medicus, J. Deutz (see Deutzia), D. ten Hove (see Hovenia) and J. van de Poll (see Pollia). These persons offered him on their joint expenses a journey to Japan, over the Dutch East Indies, from where he must transport living plants and seeds that were suited for the Dutch climate to the Hortus Medicus in Amsterdam and to the country-seats of his patrons. In this connection he visited Kleynhoff (see ...) who gave him much information about the Indies. For the reason that at that time the Dutch were the only people that were allowed to visit Japan, he fist asked permission to stay at the Cape of Good Hope for some years, in order to learn Dutch as well as to study the flora of that land. His request was agreed to and he was appointed as chief-surgeon in charge of the Dutch East Indian Company. In this duty he left for Capetown, where he arrived in 1772. On the way he became gravely ill by eating pancakes which were fried with white-lead by a mistake of the naval-chaplain who was charged with the issue of the victuals, but he survived. After having traveled over a big part of South Africa; he sailed to Batavia on a Dutch vessel in 1775, where he was joined as physician to the Dutch embassy, and left the same year to the imperial court at Tokyo (Japan). Thunberg rested there, paying attention to the flora of the country as much as possible and at the meanwhile graduating European medicine to the personal physicians of the Mikado, whereas these physicians helped him on their turn with his botanical studies during the 118 days he stayed in Japan, whereafter he returned to Java for the second time where he made some trips into the interior. Thereafter he went to Ceylon, where he (1777) stayed 7 month to study the plant- and animal-world. Back in Holland he resigned an offer to succeed the Leyden professor Van Royen (see ...), but went to England where he investigated the collections of Banks (see Banksia). In April 1779 he returned to Stockholm where he directly entered the great favour to be welcomed by king Gustav III (see Gustavia) to give an humble account of his journeys. In 1784 he was appointed as professor at Upsala as successor of Linnaeus who died in 1783. He wrote many botanical publications, including (of course a very incomplete) flora of the Cape (Flora Capensis), a flora of Java (the fist which was published of this Island) and a flora of Japan; the last was dedicated to his patrons, Deutz, Tenhove and Van de Poll and he further named a south-african genus to each of them. His collections are preserved at Upsala. He was member of 52 learned societies. In Nagasaki a a common monument was erected for him and Kämpfer (see Kaempferia). ’