Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Swartz, Olaus

SWARTZ, Olaus, Swedish botanist, b. in Norrkjoping, Sweden, in 1760; d. in Stockholm, 18 Sept., 1817. After receiving his education at Upsala, he travelled in Finland, Lapland, and the West Indies, and explored the coasts of South America in 1783, returning with a collection of rare plants. He was appointed professor of natural history in the Medico-chirurgical institute in Stockholm, and became one of the most celebrated botanists of his time. The genus Swartzia, of the order Leguminosæ, was named in his honor. Among his works are “Icones Plantarum Incognitarium,” illustrating the rare plants of the West Indies (Upsala, 1794-1800); “Flora Indiæ Occidentalis” (3 vols., 1797-1806); and “Lichenes Americani” (Nuremberg, 1811).