Benedikt Roezl (13 August 1824, Horoměřice – 14 October 1885, Prague) was a traveller, gardener and botanist (sometimes Benedict or Benito Roezl as called by the Indians). Probably the most famous collector of orchids of his time.
Despite the loss of a hand (in an accident in Cuba), Roezl travelled the world and discovered more than 800 species of orchid, with more than forty named in his honour.[1]
Roezl was also the founder of the Czech botanical magazine, Flora, in 1880. There is a statue (depicting him holding an orchid with a Native American kneeling beside him) of Roezl in Prague, located on the southern end of Charles Square.
- ^ Kew: A year at Kew: Plants: Orchids: at Kew Archived April 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine