Friedrich Ernst Leibold (also Leybold, Leyboldt), German gardener and botanical collector, trained as a gardener in Dorfgarten. In 1834 he was employed by Baron von Ludwig* in Cape Town as superintendent of the Baron's garden, Ludwig's-burg. He collected plants in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, but did not travel into the interior. He returned to Germany in 1838 and wrote an article, "Einiges ueber das Vorgebirge der guten Hofnung", for the Allgemeine Gartenzeitung (1839). It dealt mainly with Table Mountain.
In March 1839 Leibold went to the Americas and collected extensively in Cuba and Mexico, but also in South and Central America, Arkansas and Texas in the United States, the West Indies, and Australia. In 1847 he was a farmer in Mexico and later resided in New Orleans. His specimens went to Berlin, Kiel, the British Museum (Natural History) and several other herbaria. The species Rhodostachys leibolddianus and Tillandsia leiboldiana were named after him.
