// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Ernst Jacobus van Jaarsveld? A plant expert with a growing reputation.

Ernst Jacobus van Jaarsveld
van Jaarsveld in 2022
Born	(1953-02-19) February 19, 1953 Johannesburg, South Africa
Education	University of Natal (MS) University of Pretoria (PhD)
Spouse	Erma van Jaarsveld
Children	4
Scientific career
Doctoral advisor	Abraham Erasmus van Wyk
Author abbrev. (botany)	van Jaarsv.

Ernst Jacobus van Jaarsveld (born February 19, 1953) is a South African botanist. He served as a horticulturist and curator at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens from 1976 until his retirement in 2015.

As an author and co-author, he has described over 80 new plant species and is a member of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study. Several plant species have been named in his honor, including Plectranthus ernstii in 1982, Anginon jaarsveldii, and Eriosperum ernstii.

Biography

He was born on February 19, 1953 in Johannesburg. He studied at the Technikon Pretoria (today part of Tshwane University of Technology), graduating with a diploma in horticulture in 1975. He began working at the Lowveld National Botanical Garden in 1974, before joining the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in 1976.

He earned a master's degree from the University of Natal in 1990. He completed his PhD in 2012 at the University of Pretoria under the supervision of Abraham Erasmus van Wyk.

Works

• Gasterias of South Africa: a new revision of a major succulent group, 1994
• Succulents of South Africa: a guide to the regional diversity, 2000
• Cotyledon and Tylecodon, 2004
• Aizoaceae, 2004
• The Southern African Plectranthus: and the art of turning shade to glade, 2007
• Tree Aloes of Africa, 2015