Hendrik (Henk) Cornelis Dirk de Wit (24 October 1909 – 16 March 1999) was a Dutch systematic botanist who contributed significantly to the knowledge of the Aroid genera Cryptocoryne and Lagenandra. He grew up in the Waterland, a marshy area in the Northwest Netherlands, possibly the origin of his life-long interest in aquatic plants.
De Wit studied biology at the University of Amsterdam from 1931-1937. In 1937 he left for Pretoria, South Africa w...
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Hendrik (Henk) Cornelis Dirk de Wit (24 October 1909 – 16 March 1999) was a Dutch systematic botanist who contributed significantly to the knowledge of the Aroid genera Cryptocoryne and Lagenandra. He grew up in the Waterland, a marshy area in the Northwest Netherlands, possibly the origin of his life-long interest in aquatic plants.
De Wit studied biology at the University of Amsterdam from 1931-1937. In 1937 he left for Pretoria, South Africa where he worked as an Agricultural Research Officer with the Department of Agriculture. In 1941 he obtained his Ph.D. with a thesis on the genus Setaria from the grass family (Poaceae). In the same year, he moved to the Dutch East Indies (nowadays Indonesia).
During World War II de Wit worked in the 's Lands Plantentuin te Buitenzorg. After his return to The Netherlands in 1946 he worked for the Flora Malesiana Foundation. De Wit was a gifted teacher and on 20 September 1953 he became a lecturer at Leiden University where he taught plant...
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