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 Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

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 The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, an ...

Honours

Over seventy

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

have been named in his honour, including: *(

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in tem ...

) '' Ecbolium championii''

Kuntze Kuntze is a surname of German origin. People with that name include: * Carl Kuntze (1922-2006), Dutch rower who competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics * Edward J. Kuntze (1826-1870), Prussian-born American sculptor * Otto Kuntze (1843-1907), German ...

) '' Justicia championii'' 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 The Aristolochiaceae () are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is ''Aristolochia'' L. Description They are mostly perennial, he ...

) '' 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 Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the or ...

) '' Ehretia championii''

Wight A wight (Old English: ''wiht'') is a mythical sentient being, often undead. In its original use the word ''wight'' described a living human being, but has come to be used in fictional works in the fantasy genre to describe certain immortal bein ...

& Gardner ex

C.B.Clarke Charles Baron Clarke (17 June 1832 – 25 August 1906) was a British botanist. He was born at Andover, Hampshire, Andover, the eldest son of Turner Poulter Clarke. He was educated at King's College School, London, and at Trinity College, Cambrid ...

*( Fagaceae) '' Cyclobalanopsis championii'' Oerst. *(

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...

) '' Neurocalyx championii''

ex Thwaites *(

Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: ''Magnolia'' and '' Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), t ...

) '' Lirianthe championii''

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