Christian Friedrich Lessing (10 August 1809 – 13 March 1862) was a German botanist who was a native of Groß Wartenberg, Niederschlesien. He was a brother to painter Carl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), and a grandnephew of poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781).Lessing was a botanical authority on the plant family Asteraceae, and in 1832 published an influential treatise on Asteraceae called Synopsis generum Compositarum. He performed extensive botanical research in Siberia.