André Michaux
André Michaux ( born March 7, 1746 Versailles, † November 16, 1802 in Madagascar ) was a French botanist and explorer. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Michx. ".
After the death of his wife, he took her by Bernard de Jussieu in botanical studies. In 1779 he spent botanizing some time in England, in 1780, he explored the Auvergne, the Pyrenees and northern Spain. The French government sent him in 1782 on a botanical mission to Persia. The journey began unfavorable, because he was robbed by Arabs its complete equipment; only his books remained to him. However, he gained influential support in Persia, as he healed the Shah of a dangerous disease. After two years he returned to France with a beautiful herbarium. For the botanical gardens in France, he brought many plants from the East.
Louis XVI. appointed him royal botanist and sent him in 1785 in the United States. He should examine plants that could be for France of value. With his son François André (1770 - 1855), he traveled to Canada, Nova Scotia and the United States. In 1786 he erected in Charleston (South Carolina) a base in the form of a garden, which was ten years. From here he went on many expeditions to the most diverse areas in North America. During this time, he described and named many North American plants. He also collected many plants and seeds, which he sent to France. At the same time he introduced many species from different parts of the world in America, including Yellowwood Tree, Sasanqua Camellia, Sweet Olive Osmanthus, Crape Myrtle, and Ginkgo.
On the journey back to France in 1797, he suffered shipwreck and lost most of its collections. In 1800 he sailed with the expedition of Nicolas Baudin to Australia, left the ship, however, because of disputes with the captain in Mauritius. He traveled to Madagascar to study the flora of the island and died there in 1802 of tropical fever.
His work as a botanist he did most of the great outdoors. He has contributed much to the botanical knowledge of the East and the Americas.
The plant genus Michauxia L' Herit. from the family of the bellflower family ( Campanulaceae ) has been named after him, and also plant species such as Lilium michauxii. A forest in Pennsylvania, an island and the Réserve écologique André- Michaux in Quebec City were named in his honor.
Works
- Histoire de l' Amérique the chênes septentrionale in the Google Book Search. German " history of American oak ," from 1802 to 1804.
- Flora Boreali - Americana. 2 volumes, Levrault, Paris and Strasbourg in 1803; 2nd edition 1820 ( also available as PDF).
His son François -André published
- Histoire des arbres de l' Amérique forestiers septentrionale in the Google Book Search (3 volumes, 1810-1813 ).
An English translation appeared in 1817-1819 under the title The North American Sylva.