Henri Eugène Lucien Gaëtan Coemans (30 October 1825,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

– 8 January 1871,

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

) was a Belgian Catholic priest and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. In 1848 he obtained his ordination, later serving as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

in Ghent (from 1853). In 1864 he became a member of the ''Académie royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles'', followed by a professorship at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

in 1866. From 1868 to 1871 he was director of a Franciscan convent in Ghent. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

he identified the genus ''

Fittonia ''Fittonia'' (or nerve plant or mosaic plant) is a genus of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the acanthus ('bear’s britches') family, Acanthaceae. The genus is native to tropical and subtropical forested areas in northern and western So ...

'' (family

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

). The genus ''

Coemansia ''Coemansia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Kickxellaceae. It was circumscribed in 1873. The genus name of ''Coemansia'' is in honour of Henri Eugène Lucien Gaëtan Coemans (1825-1871), a Belgian clergyman and botanist (Mycology), worked ...

'' is named in his honor.

Selected works

* ''Monographie du genre Pilobolus, Tode, spècialement ètudiè au point de vue anatomique et physiologique'', 1861 - Monograph of the genus

Pilobolus ''Pilobolus'' is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung. Life cycle The life cycle of ''Pilobolus'' begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a h ...

. * ''Spicilège mycologique'', 1862 -

Mycological Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

scrapbook. * ''Notices biographiques sur quelques lichenographes celebres'', 1864 - Biographical notices of some celebrated

lichenologists Lichenology is the branch of mycology that studies the lichens, symbiotic organisms made up of an intimate symbiotic association of a microscopic alga (or a cyanobacterium) with a filamentous fungus. Lichens are chiefly characterized by this symb ...

. * ''Monographie des Spenophyllum d'Europe'' (with Jean Jacques Kickx), 1864 - Monograph on

Sphenophyllum ''Sphenophyllum'' is a genus in the order Sphenophyllales. It has been placed in the family Sphenophyllaceae. Species Species that have been described include: *†''Sphenophyllum angustifolium'' *†''Sphenophyllum biarmicum'' Zalessky (1937) ...

of Europe. * ''Description de la flore fossile du premier ètage du terrain crètacè du Hainaut'', 1867 - Description of fossil flora from the first stage of the Cretaceous terrain in Hainaut. Coemans issued the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

''Cladoniae Belgicae exsiccatae, quas collegit et distribuit, schedulis criticis additis, Eugenius Coemans''.

References

1825 births 1871 deaths Clergy from Brussels 19th-century Belgian botanists Scientists from Brussels {{Belgium-RC-clergy-stub