Tyge Wittrock Böcher (25 October 1909 – 15 March 1983) was a Danish botanist, evolutionary biologist, plant ecologist and phytogeographer.
He was born in Copenhagen to physician Einar Böcher and wife Cathinca née Andersen. Steen B. Böcher, professor of geography, was his brother.
Tyge Böcher was professor of botany at the University of Copenhagen from 1954 to 1979. He was a prolific scientific writer, leaving some 250 scholarly books and articles. His scientific research covered as diverse phylogenetic lineages as vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and algae and a broad set of disciplines from anatomy, ecology and evolution of plant species to the ecology of plant populations and plant communities. He was particularly interested in chromosomal and ecological races of plant species. He did field work in Greenland, Denmark, various European mountain regions and in Argentina. His investigation of the Greenland flora were particularly ground-breaking.
He was a co-founder of Flora Europaea and he authored the Flora of Greenland (1968).
The genus Boechera Á.Löve & D.Löve is named after him.
Scientific works by T.W. Böcher
1932-1935 Beiträge zur Zytologie der Gattung Anemone. Botanisk Tidsskrift 42: 183-206. 1932. Keywords: Pulsatilla pratensis, Pulsatilla vernalis, Pulsatilla vulgaris, cytology Phytogeographical studies of the Greenland flora based upon investigations of the coast between Scoresby Sound and Angmagsalik. Meddelelser om Grønland 104, 3. 1933. Keywords: Greenland, plant geography Studies on the vegetation of the East coast of Greenland between Scoresby Sound and Angmagsalik (Christian IX's Land). Meddelelser om Grønland 104, 4. 1933 Keywords: Greenland, arctic vegetation Botany. Appendix to Ejnar Mikkelsen: The Blosseville Coast of East Greenland. Geographical Journal (London) 81: 400-402. 1933. Keywords: Greenland, arctic vegetation Om en måde til undersøgelse af konstans, skudtæthed og homogenitet (Eng. summ. On a method for investigating constancy, shoots density and homogeneity). Botanisk Tidsskrift 43: 278-304. 1935. Keywords: methodology, vegetation
1936-1939 cytological studies on Campanula rotundifolia. Hereditas 22: 269-277. 1936. Udbredelsen af Ericaceæ, Vacciniaceæ og Empetraceæ i Danmark. Summary: The distribution of the Ericaceæ, Vacciniaceæ and Empetraceæ in Denmark (Danmarks topografisk-botaniske Undersøgelse Nr. 3). Botanisk Tidsskrift 44: 5-40, 12 maps. 1937. Keywords: Calluna vulgaris, Empetrum nigrum, Erica tetralix, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium oxycoccos, Vaccinium uliginosum, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, plant geography Nogle studier over Færøernes alpine vegetation [Zusammenfassung: Einige Studien über die alpine Vegetation der Färöer Inseln]. Botanisk Tidsskrift 44: 154-201. 1937. Keywords: Faroe Islands, vegetation Biological distributional types in the flora of Greenland. A study on the flora and plant-geography of South Greenland and East Greenland between Cape Farewell and Scoresby Sound. Doctoral thesis, University of Copenhagen. Meddelelser om Grønland 106, 2: 1-136. 1938. Keywords: Greenland, plant geography cytological studies in the genus Ranunculus. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 9, 4: 1-33. 1938. Zur Zytologie einiger arktischen und borealen Blütenpflanzen. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 32: 346-361. 1938.
1940-1944 Studies on the plant-geography of the North-Atlantic heath-formation. I. The heaths of the Faeroes. Biologiske Meddelelser / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 15, 3: 1-64. 1940. Keywords: vegetation Introductory studies on variation and life-forms in Brunella vulgaris L. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 10, 3: 1-15. 1940. Keywords: ecotype Vegetationen på Randbøl Hede. Med særlig hensyntagen til det fredede areal. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 1, 3: 1-234. 1941. Keywords: Denmark, Heath, vegetation Beiträge zur Pflanzengeographie und Ökologie dänischer Vegetation. 1. Über die Flechtenheiden und Dünen der Insel Läsö. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 2, 1: 1-38. 1941.Böcher 1941 (b): online available at The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. Keywords: Denmark, Heath, Lichen, vegetation On the origin of Saxifraga nathorsti (Dusén) v. Hayek. Meddelelser om Grønland 131, 2: 1-14. 1941. Keywords: Greenland, speciation Vegetationsstudier på halvøen Ulvshale. Botanisk Tidsskrift 46: 1-42. 1942. Keywords: Denmark, vegetation Studies on variation and biology in Plantago lanceolata L. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv. 11,3: 1-18. 1943. Keywords: ecotype Studies on the plant geography of the North-Atlantic heath formation II. Danish dwarf shrub communities in relation to those of Northern Europe. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 2, 7: 1-130. 1943. Keywords: Denmark, Heath, vegetation Nordische Verbreitungstypen. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 37: 352-370. 1943. Keywords: Scandinavia, plant geography Polyploidy in the genus Koeleria. Hereditas 29: 499-500. 1943. Keywords: cytology, Koeleria glauca, Koeleria pyramidata The leaf size of Veronica officinalis in relation to genetic and environmental factors. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 11, 7: 1-20. 1944. Keywords: cytology, ecotype
1945-1949 Beiträge zur Pflanzengeographie und Ökologie Dänischer Vegetation. II. Über die Waldsaum- und Graskrautgesellschaften trockener und halbtrockener Böden der Insel Seeland mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Strandabhänge und Strandebenen. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 4, 1: 1-163. 1945. Keywords: Denmark, grassland, plant geography, vegetation Meiosis in Anemone apennina with special reference to chiasma localisation. Hereditas 31: 221-237. 1945. Keywords: cytology Ochromonas viridis sp.n., a green flagellate belonging to Chrysomonadinae. Videnskabelige meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening 108: 233-238. 1945. Keywords: algae Græs-urte-vegetationen pa Høje Møn. Botanisk Tidsskrift 48: 1-45. 1946. Keywords: Denmark, grassland, vegetation Dichothrix gelatinosa sp. n. Its structure and resting organs. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 4, 4: 1-14. 1946. Keywords: algae Some experiments to elucidate the influence of winter conditions on shoot development and floral initiation on various races of Prunella vulgaris and Ranunculus acer. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 12, 3: 1-16. 1946. Keywords: ecotype Pseudanabaena biceps, a new sapropelic species from bottom mud. Botaniska Notiser 1946: 281-284. 1946 Keywords: algae Cytogenetic and biological studies in Geranium robertianum L. Biologiske Meddelelser / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 20, 8: 1-29. 1947. Keywords: cytology, ecotype Festuca polesica Zapał., its chromosome number and occurrence in Denmark. Botaniska Notiser 1947: 353-360. 1947. Keywords: cytology Cytological studies of Arabis holboellii Hornem. Hereditas 33: 573. 1947. & T. Christensen & M.S. Christiansen. Slope and dune vegetation of North Jutland. I. Himmerland. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 4, 4: 1-78. 1946. Keywords: Denmark, dune, grassland, vegetation Plant geography and plant sociology. In: The Humanities and Sciences in Denmark during the Second World War; pp. 309–312. Copenhagen 1948. Contributions to the flora and plant geography of West Greenland. I. Selaginella rupestris and Sisyrinchium montanum. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 3: 1-26. 1948. Studies on the sapropelic flora of the lake Flyndersø with special reference to the Oscillatoriaceae. Biologiske Meddelelser / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 21, 1: 1-46. 1949. Keywords: algae The botanical expedition to West Greenland 1946. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 1: 1-28. 1949. Climate, soil and lakes in continental West Greenland in relation to plant life. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 2: 1-63. 1949. Racial divergences in Prunella vulgaris in relation to habitat and climate. New Phytologist 48: 285-314. 1949. Keywords: ecotype
1950-1954 Structure and biology of four species of the Stigonemataceae from a shallow pool at Ivigtut. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 5: 1-120. 1950. Keywords: algae, Greenland Chromosome behaviour and syncyte formation in Phleum phleoides (L.) Karst. Botaniska Notiser 1950: 353-368. 1950. Keywords: cytology & Kai Larsen. Chromosome numbers of some Arctic or boreal flowering plants. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 6: 1-32. 1950. Contributions to the flora and plant geography of West Greenland II. The Carex capitata-, the Luzula multiflora-, and the Torularia humilis-complexes. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 7: 1-39. 1950. Keywords: arctic vegetation A. Noe-Nygaard, Chr. Vibe T.W. Böcher & E. Holtved. Notes on Danish scientific work since 1939. Arctic 4: 50-56. 1951. Botanical investigations in South West Greenland, 1946. Arctic 4 (1): 46-49. 1951. Studies on morphological progression and evolution in the vegetable kingdom. Biologiske Meddelelser / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 18, 13: 1-51. 1951. Keywords: evolution Distributions of plants in the circumpolar area in relation to ecological and historical factors. Journal of Ecology 39: 376-395. 1951. Keywords: plant geography, Holarctic Studies on the distribution of the units within the collective species of Stellaria longipes. Botanisk Tidsskrift 48: 401-420. 1951. Keywords: Caryophyllaceae, Greenland, plant geography Cytological and embryologal studies in the amphiapomictic Arabis holboellii complex. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 6, 7: 1-59. 1951. Lichen-heaths and plant succession at Østerby on the isle of Læsø in the Kattegat. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 7, 4: 1-24. 1952. Keywords: Denmark, vegetation A study of the circumpolar Carex heleonastes-amblyorhyncha complex. Acta Arctica 5: 1-31. 1952.- Keywords: Greenland, speciation Contributions to the flora and plant geography of West Greenland. III. Vascular plants collected or observed during the botanical expedition to West Greenland 1946. Meddelelser om Grønland 147, 9: 1-85. 1952. Vegetationsudvikling i forhold til marin akkumulation. 1. Korshage ved indløbet til Isefjord. Botanisk Tidsskrift 49: 1-32. 1952. Keywords: Denmark, succession, vegetation Some small collections of vascular plants form the Southern part of Greenland. Botanisk Tidsskrift 49: 196-198. 1952. & K. Larsen & K. Rahn. Experimental and cytological studies on plant species. 1. Kohlrauschia prolifera and Plantago coronopus. Hereditas 39: 289-304. 1953. Cultivation experiments with Geranium robertianum, Veronica officinalis and Prunella vulgaris. Proc. 7th International Bot. Congr. Stockholm 1950: 268-269. 1953. The steppe vegetation in continental West Greenland. Proc. 7th International Bot. Congr. Stockholm 1950: 612-613. 1954. Keywords: Greenland, vegetation Studies on European calcareous fixed dune communities. Vegetatio 5-6: 562-570. 1954. Keywords: dune, vegetation Experimental taxonomical studies in the Arabis holboellii complex. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 48: 31-44. 1954. Natural populations of Pulsatilla in Zealand. Botanisk Tidsskrift 51: 33-47. 1954. Keywords: Pulsatilla pratensis, Pulsatilla vulgaris Oceanic and continental vegetational complexes in Southwest Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland 148, 1: 1-336. 1954. Keywords: Greenland, vegetation
1955-1959 Böcher, T.W., Holmen, K. & Dunbar, M.J. Recent biological research in Greenland. Arctic 7 (3-4): 284-295. 1955. & K. Larsen & K. Rahn. Experimental and cytological studies on plant species II. Trifolium arvense and some other pauciennial herbs. Biologiske Skrifter / Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 8, 3: 1-31. 1955. Keywords: Acinos arvensis, cytology, Galium aparine, Petrorhagia prolifera, Trifolium arvense & K. Larsen & K. Rahn. Experimental and cytological studies on plant species III. Plantago coronopus and allied species. Hereditas 41: 423-453. 1955.