Erik Laxman ja bobovnik

Abstract

Erik Laxman was a Finn, born in the city of Savonlinna [then Sweden] in 1737. In 1742 Savonlinna became a part of the Russian empire, where Laxman made his career as an appointed professor. He was a naturalist with an interest in botany, geology and zoology. He published some new vascular plant species to science, among others Koelreutria paniculata, Spiraea altaiensis (=Sibiraea laevigata), Robinia spinosissima (=Caragana spinosa). Many of his articles treated practical issues in a Linnaean sense, i.e., based on harnessing nature to benefit mankind. One of the articles, titled On the Russian bobovnik and the oil prepared thereof, is translated here from Russian to Finnish.