Anton Kerner Ritter von Marilaun, or Anton Joseph Kerner, (12 November 1831 – 21 June 1898) was an Austrian botanist, physician, and professor at the University of Innsbruck and later at the University of Vienna. The standard author abbreviation A.Kern. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[1] Von Marilaun emphasized the concept of plant sociology or the species that plants were typically found associated with in his geographical studies of species. Inspired by the work of Alexander von Humboldt and others he examined climatological and historical factors in the distributions of plant species.