Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars
Encyclopedia
Saint-Martin-de-la-Place
Saint-Martin-de-la-Place is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.-References:*...
– 12 May 1831, Paris) was an eminent French botanist.
Introduction
He was from an aristocrat family of the region of AnjouAnjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
, where he grew up in the castle of Boumois, near Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
. In 1792, after an imprisonment of two years during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, he was exiled to Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and the nearby islands such as La Réunion
La Reunion
La Reunion may refer to:* La Reunion , a communal settlement near present-day Dallas, Texas*La Réunion, Lot-et-Garonne, a town in the Lot-et-Garonne department of France*Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar...
(then called Bourbon). He started collecting many plant specimens on Madagascar, Mauritius and La Réunion.
Ten years later he was able to return to France with a collection of about 2000 plants. Most of his collection went to the Muséum de Paris, while some species ended up at Kew
Kew
Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. Kew is best known for being the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens, now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace...
.
He was elected member of the prestigious Académie des Sciences on 10 April 1820.
Du Petit-Thouars is remembered as the author of the book “Histoire des végétaux recueillis dans les îles de France, de Bourbon et de Madagascar.” (usually abbreviated in botanic literature as Orch. Iles Afr), illustrated by many beautiful drawings. Other books followed : " Mélanges de botanique et de voyages " and " Histoire particulière des plantes orchidées recueillies dans les trois îles australes de France, de Bourbon et de Madagascar " ( L'île de France is the present island of Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and L'île de Bourbon is the present La Réunion
La Reunion
La Reunion may refer to:* La Reunion , a communal settlement near present-day Dallas, Texas*La Réunion, Lot-et-Garonne, a town in the Lot-et-Garonne department of France*Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar...
). He did pioneering botanical work by his descriptions of orchids from this region : 52 species from Mauritius and 55 from La Réunion.
Orchid genera named by Thouars
- Angorchis Thouars 1809.(now : AngraecumAngraecumThe genus Angraecum, abbreviated as Angcm in horticultural trade, common name Angrek or Comet Orchid, contains about 220 species, some of them among most magnificent of all orchids. They are quite varied vegetatively and florally and are adapted to dry tropical woodland habitat and have quite...
Bory, 1804). - BulbophyllumBulbophyllumBulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
Thouars 1822, describing 17 species. - Centrosis Thouars, 1822. (now : CalantheCalantheCalanthe – commonly abbreviated Cal. in horticulture – is a widespread genus of terrestrial orchids with some 170 species.The genus is divided into 2 groups – deciduous species and evergreen ones...
R.Br., 1821).) - Corymborkis Thouars 1809 (now : Corymborchis Thou. ex Blume 1855)
- CynorkisCynorkisCynorkis is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
Thouars 1809 - Dendrorkis Thouars, 1809 (now : PolystachyaPolystachyaPolystachya, abbreviated Pol in horticultural trade, is a flowering plant genus in the orchid family . This rather distinctive genus was described by William Jackson Hooker in 1824 and is the type genus of the subtribe Polystachyinae...
Hook., 1824) - Gastrorchis Thouars 1809
- GraphorkisGraphorkisGraphorkis is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
Thouars 1809 (now PhaiusPhaiusPhaius is a genus of large, mostly terrestrial orchids . The genus has about 20 species. These species are found in tropical Asia, into China, Japan, Australia, and west to Africa and Madagascar...
Lour) - HederorkisHederorkisHederorkis is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.-Species:* Hederorkis scandens Thouars * Hederorkis seychellensis Bosser - References :...
Thouars 1809 - Leptorkis Thouars ex Kuntze, 1891 (now : Liparis Rich.,1817).
- Phyllorkis Thouars 1822 (now : BulbophyllumBulbophyllumBulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
Thouars, 1822).
Orchid species named by him, besides the ones in the above named genera
- Cryptopus elatus Lindl. 1824, originally described as Angraecum elatum by Thouars (collected from the island Mauritius)
- Mystacidium gracile [Thouars] Finet 1907
Plants named in his honor
- Actinoschoenus thouarsii (Kunth) Benth. (family Cyperaceae)
- Alafia thouarsii Roem. & Schult.1819 (family Apocynaceae)
- Arthrostylis thouarsii Kunth (family Cyperaceae)
- Bambusa thouarsii var. atter (now : Gigantochloa atter (Hassk.) Kurz 1864)(family Poaceae)
- Cirrhopetalum thouarsii Lindl.John LindleyJohn Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
1830. (type orchid of the genus) - Corymborchis thouarsii Blume = Corymbis corymbosa
- Cycas thouarsii R. Br. ex Gaudich (1829), a Madagascan cycadCycadCycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
(family: Cycadaceae) - Dilobeia thouarsii Roem. & Schult. 1818 (family Pteridaceae)
- Drypetes thouarsii (family Euphorbiaceae)
- Fimbristylis thouarsii (Kunth) Merr. (family Cyperaceae)
- Jasminocereus thouarsii (F.A.C.Weber) Backeb. (family Cactaceae)
- Lindernia thouarsii, (family Scrophulariaceae)
- Moyinga thouarsii (common name : Elephant leg tree)
- Protorhus thouarsii Engl 1881 (family Anacardiaceae)
- Strychnopsis thouarsii Baill. (family Menispermaceae)
- Torenia thouarsii (Cham. & Schltdl.) Kuntze (family Scrophulariaceae)
- Typhonodorum lindleyanum thouarsii (family Araceae)
- Uapaca thouarsii (family Euphorbiaceae)
- Voacanga thouarsii Roem. & Schult. 1819 (family Apocynaceae)
- Vonitra thouarsii (family Arecaceae)
Other species named after him
- Eucidaris thouarsii Valenciennes (common name : Slate Pencil Urchin) (Echinodermata)
- Flabellum thouarsii (a group of scleractinian corals from Antarctica)
Family
- Aristide Aubert du Petit ThouarsAristide Aubert Du Petit ThouarsAristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars was a French naval officer, and a hero of the Battle of Aboukir, where he died....
(1760–1798) was a French Navy officer, and a hero of the Battle of the NileBattle of the NileThe Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
. - Abel Aubert Dupetit ThouarsAbel Aubert Dupetit ThouarsAbel Aubert Dupetit Thouars was a French naval officer important in France's anexation of French Polynesia.He was born at the castle of La Fessardière, near Saumur. His uncle Aristide Aubert Dupetit-Thouars was of the heroes of the Battle of the Nile...
(1793–1864), was a French Navy admiral who took possession of TahitiTahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
for France. - Abel-Nicolas Bergasse Dupetit Thouars (1832–1890), a French Navy admiral who participated to the Boshin WarBoshin WarThe was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.