In memoriam Hendrik Cornelis Dirk de Wit (1909 – 1999)
1999 March 16, professor dr. H. C. D. de Wit died at an age of 89 year.
Up to 1980, he was appointed as professor at Wageningen Agricultural University (NL) and director of the laboratory of taxonomy with a special interest in African plants.
De Wit was the great promoter of the study on the genus Cryptocoryne. After his studies at Amsterdam University he left for South Africa, making his Ph.D. and moved to the 'Nederlandsch Indië' (today Indonesia) where he stayed during the war, taking care of the plants at Bogor botanical garden. When repatriated, he soon became lecturer (1953) at Leiden University and professor at Wageningen Agricultural University(1959). His appointment was not very close to the study of Cryptocoryne but it was a hobby for him to get involved with these plants. Starting 1951, a long range of articles on Cryptocoryne appeared, resulting in his first major book on aquatic plants in 1966. A German edition appeared in 1971, second editions in 1983 and 1990. These publications were standards and are qualified as a nice mix of enthusiasm and scientific severity. Together with the extreme quality of the line-drawings of Ike Zewald they are still a must for everybody who wants to go further into the subject.
After his retirement in 1980, de Wit was not out of work. It is remarkable that he was able to get his ideas on the roots of biology in a three volume work on the 'Ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis van de biologie' (1982, 1989) and a popular version 'Wat is leven? Een cultuurgeschiedenis van de biologie' (1993) into print. Not a surprise for them who knew his interest in the history of thought.
Beside his scientific work and his involvement with – as hobby – Cryptocoryne, his interest in the 'aquatic society' must be mentioned. He liked to popularize his views for an aquatic-hobby audience and he loved his role as an entertainer, talking for example about eatable water plants (not Cryptocoryne of coarse). Visitors to Wageningen were always welcome to discuss some problem and never leafed without some new plants from the splendid collection in the hothouses.
Things have changed the last decades. Wageningen is not the 'hot spot' for Cryptocoryne as it was for 25 years. New techniques as chromosome counts and DNA analysis emerged. The most astonishing aspect in Cryptocoryne now is the tremendous variation within a species, not known in his days, making things even more complicated as they were already. World-wide hobbyists grow Cryptocoryne, who regard H.C.D. de Wit as the 'nestor of the Crypts'. The focus is now at Copenhagen where professor Niels Jacobsen - again as a hobby subject – is deeply involved with the genus.
De Wit described 21 new species of Cryptocoryne and 6 species of the related genus Lagenandra. Today, a couple of them are regarded now as synonyms, as the variations in the genus were not fully known in his days:
C. alba (1975), C. amicorum (1982), C. bogneri (1975), C. blassii (1960), C. decus-silvae (1976), C. diderici (1970), C. edithiae (1983), C. fusca (1970), C. gracilis (1970), C. jacobsenii (1976), C. legroi (1970), C. lucens (1962), C. moehlmannii (1983), C. parva (1970), C. schulzei (1971), C. scurrilis (1962), C. sulphurea (1976), C. tortilis (1975), C. venemae (1970), C. wendtii (1958), C. zewaldiae (1971), L. bogneri (1978), L. blassii (1978), L. erosa (1978), L. jacobsenii (1983), L. praetermissa (1983), L. schulzei (1978).
De Wit is honored with his name in both Cryptocoryne and Lagenandra: Cryptocoryne dewitii N. Jacobsen (1977), Lagenandra dewitii Crusio & de Graaf (1986).
Books on Cryptocoryne:
Aquariumplanten (1957), part II, Volume 6 in Het Handboek voor de aquariumliefhebber. Hollandia Baarn.
Aquariumplanten 2e druk (1966), Hollandia Baarn (3rd edition 1968)
Aquariumpflanzen (1971), Ulmer Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8001-6005-6.
Aquariumplanten 4e druk (1983), Hollandia Baarn, ISBN 90-6045-172-4
Aquariumpflanzen 2.Auflage (1990), Ulmer Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8001-7185-6
publications on Cryptocoryne by H.C.D. de Wit:
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1951. De bloei van Cryptocorynen. Het Aquarium 22(3) : 58-59.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1951. Cryptocoryne cordata, Cryptocoryne griffithii. Het Aquarium 22(6) : 128-129.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1952. Cryptocoryne beckettii Thwaites ex Trimen. Het Aquarium 23(*) : 15-16.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1953. Cryptocoryne longicauda Beccari ex Engler. Het Aquarium 23(11) : 248-250.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1953. Description and typification of Cryptocoryne longicauda Becari et Engler (Arac.). Webbia vol.IX, n.2 : 455-458.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1953. Cryptocoryne haerteliana Jacobs. ex Milk..Het Aquarium 24(2) : 41-43.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1956. Mainly on Cryptocoryne. The World Aquarist 2(1) : 12-14.
Legro, R.A.H. & H.C.D. de Wit, 1956. Enkele aantekeningen over Cryptocorynen. Het Aquarium 27(7): 149-153.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1957. Cryptocoryne beckettii. Fishkeeping, dec 1957 : 65-66.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne griffithii. Fishkeeping, jan 1958 : 138.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne griffithii and its allies. Fishkeeping, feb 1958 : 188.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne affinis. Fishkeeping, march 1958 : 230.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Slow-growing Cryptocoryne Species. Fishkeeping, june 1958 : 392-393. (C. versteegii)
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. A large and versatile Cryptocoryne. Fishkeeping, july 1958 : 434-435. (C. ciliata)
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. A Diminutive Cryptocoryne. Fishkeeping, august 1958 : 488-489. (C. thwaitesii)
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne longicauda. Fishkeeping, dec. 1958 : 710-711.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne johorensis Engler. Het Aquarium 28(9) : 204-206.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Aquariumplanten II. Handboek voor de aquariumliefhebber 6. Hollandia, Baarn :28-45.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Cryptocoryne wendtii sp.nov..Meded.Bot.tuinen en het Belmonte arboretum WAG Vol.II-4 : 97-101.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1958. Het genus Cryptocoryne 1. Het Aquarium 29(6) : 100-102.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 2. Het Aquarium 29(7) : 162-163.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 3. Het Aquarium 29(8) : 172-175.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 4. Het Aquarium 29(9) : 194-196.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 5. Het Aquarium 29(10) : 224-227.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 6. Het Aquarium 29(11) : 251-253.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 7, Cryptocoryne affinis – C. aponogetifolia. Het Aquarium 29(12) : 273-275.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 8, Cryptocoryne auriculata – C. balansae. Het Aquarium 30(2) : 36-40.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 9, Cryptocoryne beckettii. Het Aquarium 30(3) : 59-61.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1959. Het genus Cryptocoryne 10, Cryptocoryne bullosa. Het Aquarium 30(6) : 134-137.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1960. Cryptocoryne blassii de Wit sp.nov.. DATZ 13(4) : 115-116.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1960. Het genus Cryptocoryne 11, Cryptocoryne ciliata (Roxb.) Fischer ex Wydler. Het Aquarium 31(1) : 2-4.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1960. Het genus Cryptocoryne 12, Cryptocoryne cognata Schott , Cryptocoryne cognatoides Blatter& Mc Cann. Het Aquarium 31(2) :31-32.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1960. Het genus Cryptocoryne 13, Cryptocoryne cordata Griffith. Het Aquarium 31(3) : 50-51.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1960. Het genus Cryptocoryne (13) [=14], Cryptocoryne consobrina Schott. Het Aquarium 31(5) : 112-114.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1961. Het genus Cryptocoryne (15), Cryptocoryne cruddasiana Prain en C. elliptica N.E. Brown. Het Aquarium 31(8) : 180-181.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1961. Het genus Cryptocoryne (16), Cryptocoryne ferruginea Engler, C. gomezii Schott, C. grabowskii Engler. Het Aquarium 31(9) : 212-214.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1961. Het genus Cryptocoryne (17), Cryptocoryne griffithii Schott. Het Aquarium 31(9) : 212-214.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1961. Het genus Cryptocoryne (18), Cryptocoryne huegeli Schott, Cryptocoryne johorensis Engler. Het Aquarium 32(2) : 26-28.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1961. Het genus Cryptocoryne (19). Het Aquarium 31(11) : 256-257.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1962. Nieuwe waterplanten. Meded.Bot tuinen en het Belmonte arboretum WAG Vol VI-4 : 92-98.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1964. Het genus Cryptocoryne (20). Het Aquarium 34(7) : 148-150.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1965. De namen van Cryptocoryne soorten. Het Aquarium 36(2) : 36-39.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1966. Aquariumplanten, 2e druk. Hollandia, Baarn (3rd edition 1968)
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1969. Cryptocoryne nevillii Trim. ex Hook.f. (het genus Cryptocoryne 21). Het Aquarium 39(11) : 242-245.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1970. A key to the species of Cryptocoryne Fish.ex Wydl.(Araceae). Misc.papers LH Wageningen 6 : 257-280.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1971. Het genus Cryptocoryne (22), Cryptocoryne lucens de Wit en Cryptocoryne parva de Wit. Het Aquarium 41(12) : 291-293.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1971. Het genus Cryptocoryne (23), Een nieuwe Crypto uit Johore, Cryptocoryne schulzei. Het Aquarium 42(1) : 14-15.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1971. Aquarienpflanzen. Ulmer, Stutgart. ISBN 3-8001-6005-6.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1973. Die Aquariumpflanzen in Wort und Bild, Lief. 18 : 341-346.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1975. Oude en nieuwe namen in Cryptocoryne. Artedi 26(1) : 112-114.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1975. Cryptocoryne alba de Wit (nov.sp.) en Cryptocoryne bogneri de Wit (nov.sp.). Het Aquarium 45(12) : 326-327.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1976. Drie nieuwe Cryptocroryne-soorten. Het Aquarium 46(7) : 177.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1983. Aquariumplanten, 4e druk. Hollandia, Baarn. ISBN 90-6045-172-4.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1986. Der richtige Name. Aqua-Planta 2-86 : 45-48.
Wit, H.C.D.de, 1990. Aquarienpflanzen, 2. Auflage. Ulmer, Stuttgart. ISBN 3-8001-7185-6.
