He published a description in the second volume of Plantae Asiaticae rariores and named it Dischidia rafflesiana in honour of his late friend Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore.
He was editor of Heinrich Wilhelm Schott's celebrated monograph on aroids, Aroideae Maximilianae, and with Theodor Kotschy (1813–1866), was co-author of Plantae Tinneanae, a book describing flora collected on the Tinné expedition to Sudan.
Plant macrofossils include leaf, needle, cone, and stem debris; and can be used to identify types of plants formerly growing in the area.
This system was preceded by Haeckel's three-kingdom system: Animalia – Plantae – Protista