Federico Delpino
Encyclopedia
Frederico Delpino was an Italian botanist who made very important observations on the pollination of flowers by insects. It was he who first recognized the important concept of the pollination syndrome
.
, in 1851 he undertook a botanical journey to Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Odessa. In 1871 he was appointed to the Forestry School at Vallombrosa, and in 1875 to the Professorship of Botany at Genoa and later to a Professorship at Naples.
He was one of the founders of modern floral biology along with Hermann Müller
and corresponded with Charles Darwin
from 1867 onwards. He pioneered the concept of pollination syndrome
. In 1869 he criticised Darwin's theory of pangenesis
, to which Darwin responded.
Pollination syndrome
Pollination syndromes are suites of flower traits that have evolved in response to natural selection imposed by different pollen vectors, which can be abiotic or biotic, such as birds, bees, flies, and so forth. These traits include flower shape, size, colour, odour, reward type and amount, nectar...
.
Career
Originally a student of mathematics at GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, in 1851 he undertook a botanical journey to Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Odessa. In 1871 he was appointed to the Forestry School at Vallombrosa, and in 1875 to the Professorship of Botany at Genoa and later to a Professorship at Naples.
He was one of the founders of modern floral biology along with Hermann Müller
Hermann Müller (botanist)
Heinrich Ludwig Hermann Müller , German botanist who provided important evidence for Darwin's theory of evolution. He was the author in 1873 of Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten, a book translated at the suggestion of Darwin in 1883 as The fertilisation of flowers...
and corresponded with Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
from 1867 onwards. He pioneered the concept of pollination syndrome
Pollination syndrome
Pollination syndromes are suites of flower traits that have evolved in response to natural selection imposed by different pollen vectors, which can be abiotic or biotic, such as birds, bees, flies, and so forth. These traits include flower shape, size, colour, odour, reward type and amount, nectar...
. In 1869 he criticised Darwin's theory of pangenesis
Pangenesis
Pangenesis was Charles Darwin's hypothetical mechanism for heredity. He presented this 'provisional hypothesis' in his 1868 work The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication and felt that it brought 'together a multitude of facts which are at present left disconnected by any efficient...
, to which Darwin responded.
Scientific Works
- Delpino F (1867) Sugli apparecchi della fecondazione nelle diante antocarpee.
- Delpino F (1968) Ulteriori osservazioni sulla dicogamia nel regno vegetale.
- Delpino, F (1869) Sulla darwiniana teoria della pangenesi. Rivista Contemporanea LVI: 196-204 & LVII: 25-38.
- Delpino F (1874) Ulteriori osservazioni e considerazioni sulla dicogamia nel regno vegetale. 2 (IV). Delle piante zoidifile. Atti. Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. 16:151–349.