Christian Luerssen

{{Short description|German botanist}}

Christian Luerssen (6 May 1843, Bremen – 28 June 1916) was a German botanist. He was an authority in the field of pteridology.

In 1872, at Leipzig, he graduated as a university teacher of botany, and was later appointed professor of botany at the Forest Academy at Neustadt-Eberswalde (1884). From 1888, he served as a professor at the University of Königsberg.[https://books.google.com/books?id=XPYzAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Christian+Luerssen%22+Eberswalde+K%C3%B6nigsberg&pg=PA330 Real-Enzyklopädie der gesamten Pharmazie: Handwörterbuch ..., Volume 8, Part 1] by Josef Moeller After his death, a portion of his botanical collection (including European pteridophytes) was donated by Otto Bjurling to the Swedish Museum of Natural History.[http://www.nrm.se/english/themuseum/aboutourwebsite/search.52_en.html?query=herbarium&x=0&y=0 Naturhistoriska riksmuseet] Christian Luerssen's herbarium

Luerssen was the taxonomic authority of the family Sciadopityaceae (1877).[https://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&is_real_user=1&taxon_no=54796 Paleobiology Database] Sciadopityaceae He has a number of plant species named after him, such as Koeleria luerssenii (grass species) and Cassia luerssenii (family Fabaceae).[https://books.google.com/books?id=8ieqQs7hIREC&dq=%22Christian+Luerssen%22+1843&pg=PA1167 CRC World Dictionary of Grasses: Common Names, Scientific Names ..., Volume 1] by Umberto Quattrocchi{{GRIN | Cassia luerssenii | 406851 | accessdate = 21 January 2018}}