Simon Schwendener

Simon Schwendener (10 February 1829 – 27 May 1919) was a Swiss botanist who was a native of Buchs in the Canton of St. Gallen.

He took a mechanistic approach to his botanical studies, believing that a plant's anatomical structure conformed to principles of mechanics.

He conducted extensive research on the mechanics of sap ascent, the construction of a leaf's pulvinus, the positioning of a plants' leaves, and the inner-workings between stomata and its guard cells.

In 1867 Schwendener announced to the scientific world his hypothesis that lichen was formed by two separate organisms, a fungus and an alga.

During his long career he had several renowned students and assistants, including Carl Correns, Gottlieb Haberlandt, Eduard Jahn, Richard Kolkwitz, Emil Heinricher, Max Westermaier, Georg Volkens and Otto Heinrich Warburg.