John George Champion (1815–1854) was an English soldier,

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, and explorer.

Life

He was gazetted ensign in the 95th regiment in 1831, and embarked for foreign service in 1838, having then attained the rank of captain. After a stay in the Ionian Isles, his duties took him to Ceylon, and thence in 1847 to Hong Kong. During his time at the Ionian islands of Kerkyra (Corfu) and Kefalonia (Cefalonia), he published short notes on insect natural history under the pseudonym "Ionicus" (or "Jonicus"). He collected a great variety of plants from China, and he came back to England in 1850. He came back in front of the Crimea combat, commanding the 95th Regiment, and he died in the Scutari hospital, on 30 November 1854 due to injuries received while he commanded his regiment in the battle of Inkerman.

Honours

Over seventy species have been named in his honour, including: *( Acanthaceae) ''

Ecbolium championii ''Ecbolium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. Selected species * ''Ecbolium albiflorum '' * ''Ecbolium amplexicaule '' Vollesen * ''Ecbolium barlerioides '' S.Moore * ''Ecbolium benoistii '' (S.Moore) Lindau * ''Ecboli ...

'' Kuntze *( Acanthaceae) ''

Justicia championii Justicia may refer to: * ''Justicia'' (album), by Eddie Palmieri, 1969 * Justicia (Madrid), a ward in the Madrid city center * ''Justicia'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae * Justicia mayor, a 19th century Spanish ...

'' T.Anderson ex

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

*( Aristolochiaceae) '' Aristolochia championii''

Merr. Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through ...

& Chun *( Boraginaceae) ''

Ehretia championii ''Ehretia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It contains about 50 species. The generic name honors German botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708–1770). Species Accepted species and other notable t ...

'' Wight & Gardner ex C.B.Clarke *(

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

) ''

Cyclobalanopsis championii ''Quercus championii'' is an uncommon species of tree in the beech family. It has been found only in southern China, in the Provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, and Yunnan. ''Quercus championii'' is a tree up to 20 meters t ...

'' Oerst. *( Rubiaceae) ''

Neurocalyx championii ''Neurocalyx'' is a plant genus in the coffee family Rubiaceae. Species are found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Species ''The Plant List'' and the ''World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families ...

ex Thwaites *( Magnoliaceae) ''

Lirianthe championii ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

References

;Attribution

Sources

* * Troyer, JR. 1979. ''The natural history publications of John George Champion (1815–1854), soldier and botanist''. JSBNH 9 (2): 125–131 (abril de 1979)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, John George 1815 births 1854 deaths English botanists English explorers Sherwood Foresters officers British military personnel killed in the Crimean War