Elias Tillandz (1640-1693) was a Finnish doctor and a botanist. He was the professor of medicine at the Academy of Åbo in Finland. He wrote the country's first botanical work, the Catalogus Plantarum , which was first published in 1673. As a doctor he also prepared medicines for his patients by using his extensive knowledge of plants.
According to legend Tillandz ("Till lands" means "by land" in Swedish) got his name when he, as a student, travelled by boat from Turku to Stockholm. On the way he became so seasick that he returned by walking around the Gulf of Bothnia, a distance of some 1000 kilometers.
A family epiphytic plants, Tillandsia, was named after Tillandz by Carolus Linnaeus.
