Bauer, Franz Andreas (1758–1840)

Austrian botanist who introduced an early begonia hybrid to the Britain, worked on orchids, and helped to establish the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh.

Bauer was born in Feldsberg, Lower Austria and educated with his two brothers, Ferdinand and Joseph, by monks in Feldsberg. He trained as a botanical illustrator and helped to illustrate Father Boccius's 14-volume Hotus Botanicus while studying under him. He then went to Vienna to work for Nikolamus von Jacquin and in 1788 travelled to London in the company of Jacquin's son. While he was in London he studied in Joseph Banks's library and he was subsequently employed by Banks at the Royal Garden at Kew for the rest of his life. His work at Kew did not keep him fully occupied and he was able to carry out his own research. His publications include Delineations of Exotic Plants Cultivated in the Royal Garden at Kew 1796 and the paper ‘Microscopical Observations on the Red Snow’ 1819.