The species was described by de Bary in 1884, who called it Bacillus megaterium, but did not give an etymology.
He published more than 100 research papers and influenced many students who later became distinguished botanists and microbiologists such as Sergei Winogradsky (1856–1953), William Gilson Farlow (1844–1919), and Pierre-Marie-Alexis Millardet (1838–1902).
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He inoculated sporidia from the winter spores of the wheat rust on the leaves of the "common barberry" (Berberis vulgaris).
Anton Chekhov | Heinrich Himmler | Heinrich Heine | Anton Corbijn | Heinrich Schütz | Anton Bruckner | Anton Webern | Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi | Heinrich von Kleist | Heinrich Böll | Anton Reichenow | Heinrich Isaac | Heinrich Marschner | Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza | Robert Anton Wilson | Anton LaVey | Heinrich Mann | Heinrich Hertz | Heinrich Graetz | Heinrich Böll Foundation | Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters | Anton Yelchin | Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher | Johann Heinrich Lambert | Heinrich von Breymann | Heinrich Finck | Anton Geesink | Anton Armstrong | Heinrich Zimmer | Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst |
Directors of the botanical garden from this period included Karl Julius Perleb, Fridolin Karl Leopold Spenner, Alexander Braun, Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli, Heinrich Anton de Bary and Julius von Sachs.