Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars (5 November 1758, Bournois – 12 May 1831, Paris) was an eminent French

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 ...

known for his work collecting and describing

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...

s from the three islands of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...

Introduction

Petit-Thouars came from an aristocratic family of the region of

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...

, where he grew up in the castle of Boumois, near

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur s ...

. In 1792, after an imprisonment of two years during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, he was exiled to

and the nearby islands such as

La Réunion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

(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. 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 ''Hist. vég. îles France''), 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

and l'île de Bourbon is the present

). 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 : '' Angraecum'' Bory, 1804). *'' Bulbophyllum'' Thouars 1822, describing 17 species. *''Centrosis'' Thouars, 1822. (now : ''

Calanthe ''Calanthe'', commonly known as Christmas orchids, is a genus of about 220 species of orchids in the family Orchidaceae. They are evergreen or deciduous terrestrial plants with thick roots, small oval pseudobulbs, large corrugated leaves and u ...

'' R.Br., 1821).) *''Corymborkis'' Thouars 1809 (now : '' Corymborchis'' Thou. ex Blume 1855) *'' Cynorkis'' Thouars 1809 *''Dendrorkis'' Thouars, 1809 (now : ''

Polystachya ''Polystachya'', abbreviated Pol in horticultural trade, and commonly known as yellowspike orchid, is a flowering plant genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). This rather distinctive genus was described by William Jackson Hooker in 1824 and is ...

'' Hook., 1824) *'' Gastrorchis'' Thouars 1809 *''

Graphorkis ''Graphorkis'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains 4 known species, native to Africa and to Madagascar and other islands of the Indian Ocean. See also * List of Orchidaceae genera This is a list ...

'' Thouars 1809 (now ''

Phaius ''Phaius'', commonly known as swamp orchids or in Chinese as 鶴頂蘭屬/鹤顶兰属 (he ding lan shu), is a genus of forty-five species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. They are evergreen, terrestrial herbs which form cl ...

'' Lour) *''

Hederorkis ''Hederorkis'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It contains two known species, both native to islands in the Indian Ocean (Seychelles and Mauritius). Description As opposed to '' Polystachya'' (the largest ge ...

'' Thouars 1809 *''Leptorkis'' Thouars ex Kuntze, 1891 (now : '' Liparis'' Rich.,1817). *''Phyllorkis'' Thouars 1822 (now : '' Bulbophyllum'' Thouars, 1822).

Orchid species (of other genera) named by him

*''Cryptopus elatus'' Lindl. 1824, originally described as ''Angraecum elatum'' by Thouars (collected from the island Mauritius) *''Mystacidium gracile'' houarsFinet 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'' Kunth (family Poaceae) *''Cirrhopetalum thouarsii''

Lindl. John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) 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 ...

1830. (type orchid of the genus) *''Corymborchis thouarsii'' Blume = Corymbis corymbosa *''

Cycas thouarsii ''Cycas thouarsii'', the Madagascar cycad, is an evergreen arborescent cycad in the genus ''Cycas''. It is named after a French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1758—1831). Description The stem of this cycad resembles that of a p ...

'' R. Br. ex Gaudich (1829), a Madagascan

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...

(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

* Brother: **

Aristide Aubert du Petit-Thouars Aristide Aubert du Petit-Thouars (31 August 1760 – 2 August 1798) was a French naval officer, and participant of the humiliating French defeat at the Battle of the Nile, where he was killed in action. Biography He was born on 31 August ...

(1760–1798) was a French Navy officer, a hero of the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the ...

. * Their nephew: ** (1769-1829), aide-de-camp to General Vignolle, later deputy prefect of Saint-Malo * Their grandnephew and Abel Ferdinand Aubert's son: ** Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1793–1864), was a French Navy admiral and botanist, took possession of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

for France. * Their great-grandnephew and Abel Ferdinand's grandson (by his daughter Sidonie): ** Abel-Nicolas Bergasse du Petit-Thouars (1832–1890), a French Navy admiral who participated to the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. *** note that Abel-Nicolas Bergasse was Abel Aubert's nephew, but also became his adopted son

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:du Petit-Thouars, Louis-Marie Aubert 18th-century French botanists Orchidologists 1758 births 1831 deaths Botanists active in Africa People from Maine-et-Loire Botanists with author abbreviations 19th-century French botanists Dupetit Thouars family