Martinus Houttuyn

Maarten Houttuyn or Houttuijn (1720 – 2 May 1798; Latinised as Martinus Houttuyn) was a Dutch naturalist.

Houttuynia cordata

Maarten Houttuyn
Title page of the first volume of Natuurlijke Historie (1761)
Born	1720 Hoorn, Netherlands
Died	2 May 1798 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Alma mater	University of Leiden
Scientific career
Fields	Pteridophytes Bryophytes Spermatophytes
Author abbrev. (botany)	Houtt.

Houttuyn was born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. He published many books on natural history, e.g. Natuurlyke Historie of uitvoerige Beschryving der Dieren, Planten en Mineraalen, volgens het Samenstel van den Heer Linnaeus, in 37 volumes (1761-1773), following Carl Linnaeus' division into the animal kingdom, the plant kingdom, and the mineral kingdom. His areas of interest encompassed Pteridophytes, Bryophytes and Spermatophytes. He died in Amsterdam. In botanical nomenclature, the standard author abbreviation Houtt. is applied to plants described by him. He is commemorated by the genus Houttuynia, a member of the Saururaceae from China and Japan.

Martinus Houttuyn was the co-writer of the volumes 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Nederlandsche Vogelen.^[1] The first author was Cornelius Nozeman.