Unger, Franz

Born Nov. 30, 1800, in Der Gute Amthof; died Feb. 13, 1870, in Graz. Austrian botanist. Professor at the universities of Graz (1835) and Vienna (1849–66).

Unger made a great contribution to the development of plant morphology, anatomy, embryology, and physiology. He also did important work in paleobotany. He discovered zoospores in algae and was one of the first to observe cell division. On the basis of paleobotanical data, Unger developed theories concerning the transformation of species and the evolutionary development of the plant world; his theories predate those of Darwin (1852).