Pierre Nicolas Le Chéron d'Incarville (21 August 1706 – 12 June 1757) was a French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and amateur

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 ...

. He was a missionary to China and was the first person to introduce several important plants to the West. During his stay, he was also actively involved in publishing scholarly material on China. 18th century English illustration of Chinese fireworks

18th century English illustration of Chinese fireworks

Biography

D'Incarville was born in

Louviers Louviers () is a Communes of France, commune in the Eure Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In th ...

(although some sources cite

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

). He entered the Jesuit order in 1727 and taught in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

between 1730 and 1739 before being sent on a mission to China in 1740. He was a pupil of

Bernard de Jussieu Bernard de Jussieu (; 17 August 1699 – 6 November 1777) was a French naturalist, younger brother of Antoine de Jussieu. Bernard de Jussieu was born in Lyon. He took a medical degree at Montpellier and began practice in 1720, but finding the wo ...

, whom he called "mon maître en botanique" (my teacher in botanics). In Chine he was tasked with converting the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

of China, but the emperor showed little interest and denied d'Incarville access to the imperial gardens. However, when the emperor was shown some sensitive plants (''

Mimosa pudica ''Mimosa pudica'' (also called sensitive plant, sleepy grass, sleepy plant, action plant, humble plant, touch-me-not, touch-and-die, or shameplant) is a creeping annual or perennial flowering plant of the pea/legume family Fabaceae. It is often ...

'') that d'Incarville had grown, he was so amused that he allowed the Jesuit into the gardens. D'Incarville was on excellent terms with the emperor, and he continued to introduce many other European plants to him during his time in China. D'Incarville described and sent back seeds of several plants then unknown in Europe as a correspondent of the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

. He was not a professional botanist, but was nonetheless well educated in the field and was made a correspondent of

Claude Joseph Geoffroy Claude Joseph Geoffroy (8 August 1685, Paris – 9 March 1752, Paris) was the brother of Étienne François Geoffroy. Like his brother, he was an apothecary and chemist. Having a considerable knowledge of botany, he devoted himself especially t ...

at the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

after refusing to become a foreign associate of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Plants he introduced to the Western world include the tree of heaven (''

Ailanthus altissima ''Ailanthus altissima'' ( ), commonly known as tree of heaven or ailanthus tree, is a deciduous tree in the quassia family. It is native to northeast and central China, and Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus ''Ailanthus'', it is found ...

''), the

pagoda tree ''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of deciduous tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It was formerly incl ...

(''Styphnolobium japonicum''),syn: ''Sophora japonica''; see: ''

Koelreuteria paniculata ''Koelreuteria paniculata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to China, Korea, and Outer Manchuria in both Russia and Mongolia. Naturalized in Japan since at least the 1200s, it was introduced to Europe in 1747 a ...

'' and ''

Toona sinensis ''Toona sinensis'', common name, commonly called Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, Chinese toon, beef and onion plant, or red toon (; ; ; ; ) is a species of ''Toona'' native to eastern and southeastern Asia, ranging from northern Korean peninsula ...

''. He was also the first European to describe the

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry (botany), berry of several species of woody vines in the genus ''Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, ...

. D'Incarville died in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in June 1757.

Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (; 12 April 1748 – 17 September 1836) was a French botanist, notable as the first to publish a natural classification of flowering plants; much of his system remains in use today. His classification was based on an e ...

named the

bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae () is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpet vines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant ...

genus '' Incarvillea'' after him.

Bibliography

* In addition to his correspondence work, he wrote several works that were published in Europe. These covered topics such as the ailanthus silkmoth, Chinese varnishing and fireworks, as well as a French-Chinese dictionary. He also published a copy of a 16th-century botanical illustration work (the ''Yuzhi bencao pinhui jingyao'').

References

Sources

* (pp. 120–124 are about "Father Petrus d'Incarville"). * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Incarville, Pierre Nicolas le Cheron d 1706 births 1757 deaths French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in China French missionaries in China People from Louviers 18th-century French botanists 18th-century French Jesuits Missionary botanists