David Meese (25 December 1723 – 23 August 1770) was a Dutch botanist notable for his authorship of the Flora frisica in 1760.
Career Born into a low class family, Meese became a self taught herbalist. His skills were recognized by the University of Franeker where he was placed in charge of the academic gardens at the college in 1752.Aa, A. J. (1859). Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden (Deel. 12-1). Retrieved from http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/retroboeken/vdaa/#source=aa__001biog14_01.xml&page=523&view=imagePane&accessor=accessor_index&accessor_href=http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/retroboeken/vdaa/accessor_index/index_html?page=523&source=aa__001biog14_01.xml&id=accessor_index
In 1760, Meese published a flora of Friesland, the Flora frisica, which followed the Linnaean system of classification. He followed this with the publication of the two-part Plantarum rudimenta etc. in 1763, written in both Latin and Dutch.Molhuysen, P. C., Blok, P. J., Knappert, L., & Kossmann, K. H. (1911). Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek (Deel. 10). Retrieved from http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/retroboeken/nnbw/#source=10&page=308&view=imagePane He was known for his experiments into moss physiology. He investigated the propagation of the common hair moss, Polytrichum commune, and was among the first to write an account on the morphology of spore germination.Meyer, S. (1947). Physiological Studies on Mosses. VI. Spore Germination and Protonema Development in Physcomitrium turbinatum (Michx.) Brid. The Bryologist, 50(4), 403-408. doi:10.2307/3239646
Among his inventions was a special seeder, which was a wooden cart with two wheels and holes on the back wall to allow seed to pass through. He also invented a seed drill.
The moss genus Meesia was named after him in 1788 by his contemporary Johann Hedwig.
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