Karl Heinrich Emil Koch (6 June 1809 – 25 May 1879) was a German botanist.

He is best known for his botanical explorations in the Caucasus region, including northeast Turkey.

The fruit of this second trip, in which he also visited Asia Minor, Great Armenia, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains,[1] was his "Wanderungen im Oriente, während der Jahre 1843 und 1844" (1846).

He became general secretary of the Berlin Horticultural Society (Verein zur Beförderung des Gartenbau, a Prussian state institution),[1] in which capacity he published "Wochenschrift für Gartnerei und Pflanzenkunde" (1858–72).

Besides the travel book already mentioned, Koch wrote "Reise durch Russland nach dem kaukasischen Isthmus" (Trip through Russia and the Caucasian isthmus, Stuttgart, 1842–43), "Fährtenabdrücke im bunten Sandstein" (with Ernst Erhard Schmid, 1841),[3] "Hortus dendrologicus" (Berlin, 1853–54), "Dendrologie" (Erlangen, 1869–72), and other works.