Eugène Bourgeau (1813 - 1877) was a French naturalist. He was native of Brizon in the département of Haute-Savoie in France.
As a young man, he worked at the botanical garden in Lyon, where his influences included Nicolas Charles Seringe and Claude Thomas Alexis Jordan.[1] In 1843 he relocated to Paris, where he was hired by Philip Barker Webb as a herbarium assistant. In 1845-46 he collected plants for the "Webb collection" in the Canary Islands.[2]
He had previously been a botanical collector in Spain, North Africa and the Canary Islands before joining the British North American Exploring Expedition of western Canada from 1857 to 1860.[3] In Canada, he collected botanical specimens north of Lake Superior and areas around Lake Winnipeg, also journeying down the Saskatchewan River and venturing into the Rocky Mountains.[2] Mt Bourgeau near Sunshine Village in Banff National Park bears his name.
Later expeditions included two trips to Asia Minor (the Lycia region and the Pontic Mountains), a journey to Spain and the Balearic Islands (1863), a scientific mission to Mexico (1865–66), and in 1870, a trip to the island of Rhodes.[1] [2]
Bourgeau did not publish any botanical literature.[2] . He edited several exsiccata-like series with printed labels, among them Plantes d'Espagne.[4] [5] He reportedly was a terrible speller and grammarian.[1]
The name of Eugène Bourgeau is commemorated with Mount Bourgeau, a peak located in Banff National Park.[6]
In honor of him, several taxonomic patronyms were also given in plants: