He was Emeritus professor in the University of Hamburg, at the Herbarium Hamburgense.
He is known for his work on the systematics and biogeography of the angiosperms, particularly those of the Neotropics, and also the floristic record of the Tertiary era.
[3] Kubitzki was born in Niesky, Germany and studied biology and geology at the universities of Innsbruck, Göttingen and Kiel.
[5] Kubitzki's contributions have included taxonomy, plant geography and geoecology.
His taxonomic work is contained in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants (1990-).