Hiltje Maas-van de Kamer facts for kids
Hillegonda (Hiltje) Maas-van de Kamer (born December 9, 1941) is a famous botanist. She works at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. Hiltje is married to Professor Paul Maas, who is also a botanist. They have worked together on many projects. Hiltje is an expert on plants from the neotropics, which are warm, tropical areas in the Americas.
Hiltje's mother was Catharina Braak, and her father was Jan Hendrik van de Kamer. Her father was a pharmacist and chemist at the TNO. Hiltje studied at Utrecht University from 1962 to 1981.
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Discovering New Plants
Hiltje and her husband, Paul Maas, have discovered and named many new plants. Together, they have identified about 250 different plant species! These plants come from various families. Some of these families include the Costus Family (Costaceae), the Gentian Family (Gentianaceae), and the Ginger Family (Zingiberaceae). They also studied plants from the Bloodwort Family (Haemodoraceae) and the Banana Family (Musaceae).
Research on Tropical Plants
Two main areas of Hiltje's research are the Annonaceae family and saprotrophic plants. Saprotrophic plants are special because they get their food from dead or decaying matter. They do not use sunlight like most plants. Many of these plants are found in the neotropics. The Burmanniaceae family is an example of saprotrophic plants that Hiltje studies.
Focus on the Canna Plant
Hiltje Maas has also done a lot of work on the Canna plant. This plant is known for its beautiful, bright flowers. She wrote about Canna plants found in Ecuador in 1988. In 2008, she published a complete book about the genus. The book is called The Cannaceae of the World. It shares all her knowledge about Canna plants from around the globe.
More Information
- Learn more about Hiltje and Paul Maas
- A proposal about the Canna tuerckheimii plant
See also
In Spanish: Hillegonda Maas para niños
