Eugène Bourgeau Explained

Eugène Bourgeau (1813 - 1877) was a French naturalist. He was native of Brizon in the département of Haute-Savoie in France.

Biographical information

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]

Patronyms

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:

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=BdFuHC3DhwAC&pg=PA94 Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists
  2. http://plants.jstor.org/person/bm000000953 JSTOR Global Plants
  3. http://www.ourheritage.net/hector_pages/Bourgeau.html James Hector's Journal
  4. Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.
  5. Web site: Plantes d'Espagne: IndExs ExsiccataID=309944704 . IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae . Botanische Staatssammlung München . 16 July 2024.
  6. Book: Place-names of Alberta. 1928. Geographic Board of Canada. Ottawa. 23.
  7. http://botany.si.edu/ing/INGsearch.cfm?SearchWord=bourgaea Index Nominum Genericorum database