Abstract
THE Botanical Garden at Montpellier has grown under the ægis of many distinguished botanists, some of whom made vast contributions to the science without the éclat of fame. Dora Maw provides, in a recent article (J. Roy.Hort. Soc., 66, Pts. 4 and 5, April and May 1941), a chapter of history which shows in vivid fashion the work of two earlier directors of the Montpellier Garden. Pierre Richer de Balleval (1564–1632) was the actual founder, and was a vigorous exponent of the rising science of pharmacognosy. He gathered together a consocies of 1,332 species, lost them during the military manoeuvres of inter–religious strife, and started again with characteristic determination. Modern pharmacy owes to him the discovery of galenicals such as Aristolochia longa, Artemisia campestris and Scrophularia aquatica. Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet (1761–1807) was a native of Montpellier, and became director of the gardens after a life of epic adventure. He travelled restlessly in south–western Europe and North Africa, after a thrilling succession of political reverses from posts of honour to expedient incarceration. Botanical awareness marked all his journeys, for he brought back knowledge of many useful plants—Tetraclinis articulata (citrus wood), Argania spinosa (iron–wood), Acacia gummifera (the source of gum arabic), and many species of medicinal value. His tenure of the directorship was relatively short, but the background of his extensive travels made it illustrious.
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Two French Botanical Pioneers. Nature 148, 48 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148048b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148048b0