Kai Larsen

{{short description|Danish botanist of the 20th-21st centuries}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Kai Larsen | image = Kai Larsen.JPG | birth_date = {{birth date |1925|11|15}} | birth_place = Hillerød, Denmark | death_date = {{death date and age |2012|08|23 |1925|11|15}} | death_place = Denmark | fields = Botany }}

'''Kai Larsen''' (15 November 1926 in Hillerød – 23 August 2012)<ref name="NOVATAXA">{{cite web |title=Botanist • K.Larsen {{!}} In Memoriam: Kai Larsen, 1926-2012 |url=https://novataxa.blogspot.com/2012/08/kai-larsen-1926-2012.html |website=Species New to Science |date=31 August 2012 |publisher=pskhun |access-date=13 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007000806/http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2012/08/kai-larsen-1926-2012.html |archive-date=7 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> was a Danish botanist.

Kai Larsen was professor of botany (Emeritus from 1-12-1996) at Århus University, Denmark. He was the Danish editor of Flora Nordica, editor of Flora of Thailand, advisor to Flora of China and executive member of Flora Malesiana.

He edited several exsiccatae, among others ''Flora Germanica exsiccata Schleswig-Holstein''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Flora Germanica exsiccata Schleswig-Holstein: IndExs ExsiccataID=1618637567 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=1618637567 |access-date=13 August 2024}}</ref><ref name="Triebel & Scholz 2001-2024">Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.</ref>

He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.<ref name="NASL">{{cite web |url=http://www.dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40124 |website=Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi |title=Gruppe 5: Biologi |publisher=Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters |language=Norwegian |archive-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927170856/https://dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40124 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

== Research == *SE Asian flora region, particularly Thailand, Malaysia and Indo-China. Revisions of several families e. g. ''Caesalpiniaceae'', ''Caryophyllaceae'', and ''Lowiaceae'' for several of the regional floras. *''Zingiberaceae'' for Flora of Thailand and Flora Malesiana.

== Eponymous species == Some plant names are taxonomic patronyms recognizing his contribution to studying Asian flora.

=== Genera === * ''Kailarsenia'': a genus in the family Rubiaceae found in Southeast Asia.<ref name="Tirveng1993" /> * ''Larsenaikia'': a genus in the family Rubiaceae endemic to Australia.<ref name="Tirveng1993">{{cite journal |title=''Larsenaikia'', a new genus of the Rubiaceae from Australia |date=1993 |last1=Tirvengadum |first1=D. D. |journal=Nordic Journal of Botany |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=175–184 |doi=10.1111/j.1756-1051.1993.tb00034.x }}</ref> This name is a taxonomic anagram derived from genus ''Kailarsenia''.<ref name="Burkhardt2018">{{Cite book |last=Burkhardt |first=Lotte |title=Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen - Erweiterte Edition. Index of Eponymic Plant Names - Extended Edition. Index de Noms éponymiques des Plantes - Édition augmentée |date=2018-06-06 |publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin |page=L13 |isbn=978-3-946292-26-5 |language=de |doi=10.3372/epolist2018 |s2cid=187926901 }}</ref> * The generic name ''Kaisupeea'' {{small|B.L. Burtt}} (Gesneriaceae) honours Kai and Supee Larsen.<ref name="Burkhardt2018"/><ref>{{cite web |title=''Kaisupeea'' B.L.Burtt {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:20002450-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=16 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Species === * ''Burmannia larseniana'' D.X.Zhang & R.M.K.Saunders (Burmanniaceae) * ''Bauhinia larsenii'' Y.F. Chen & D.X. Zhang, fossil Leguminosae from southern China<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Bauhinia larsenii'', a fossil legume from Guangxi, China |date=2005 |last1=Chen |first1=YUN-FA |last2=Zhang |first2=Dian-Xiang |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=147 |issue=4 |pages=437–440 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2005.00373.x }}</ref> * ''Caulokaempferia larsenii'' Suksathan & Triboun * ''Cornukaempferia larsenii'' Saensouk, Theerakulpisut, & Chantaranothai<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Saensouk |first1=Piyaporn |last2=Theerakulpisut |first2=Piyada |last3=Chantaranothai |first3=Pranom |title=''Cornukaempferia larsenii'' sp. nov. (Zingiberaceae): A New Species from Thailand |journal=The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University |date=2007 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=115–119}}</ref> * ''Curcuma larsenii'' C. Maknoi & T. Jenjittikul<ref name="MAKNOI">{{cite journal |last1=Maknoi |first1=Charun |last2=Jenjittikul |first2=Taya |title=A New Species of ''Curcuma'' L. (Zingiberaceae) from Southeast Asia |journal=Gardens' Bulletin Singapore |date=2006 |volume=58 |pages=4146 |url=https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg/research/publications/gardens'-bulletin-singapore/-/media/sbg/gardens-bulletin/gbs_58_01_y2006/58_01_05_y2006_v58p1_gbs_pg41.pdf}}</ref> * ''Impatiens larsenii'' T. Shimizu<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shimizu |first1=Tatemi |title=Some additional notes on ''Impatiens''(Balsaminaceae) of Thailand |journal=Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica |date=1977 |volume=28 |doi=10.18942/bunruichiri.KJ00003217437}}</ref> * ''Kaempferia larsenii'' Sirirugsa * ''Mouretia larsenii'' Tange * ''Zingiber larsenii'' Theilade

== References == {{Reflist|28em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Kai}} Category:1926 births Category:20th-century Danish botanists Category:2012 deaths Category:Botanists active in South Asia Category:Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Category:People from Hillerød Municipality Category:Academic staff of Aarhus University