Prospero Alpini

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Prospero Alpini

1553-1616

Italian botanist and physician who first examined plants outside of their uses for medicine. Born in Marostica, he studied medicine at the University of Padua. His major contributions resulted from his travels, especially to Egypt, where he brought home exotic plants and sought to categorize them. Some of his descriptions were included in the writings of Linnaeus, the great Swedish organizer plants and animals, who named a genus after him.