Bernard Verdcourt (20 January 1925 – 25 October 2011) was a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

and taxonomist, most widely known as a

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and latterly an honorary research fellow at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

in London. Prior to coming to Kew in 1964, he was associated with the East African Herbarium for 15 years. Although his best-known work probably consists of his many studies of the East African

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

, he has also made extensive contributions relating to African terrestrial

mollusks Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

and to

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...

. Dr. Verdcourt received the Linnean Medal for botany from the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...

in 2000.Award to Bernard Vercourt. Kew Scientist: Apr 2000(17):4. Kew Gardenshttp://www.linnean.org/index.php?id=347 Linnean Society of London His list of publications includes more than 1,000 scientific works.

Eponymy

In 2012, botanists H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi published '' Verdesmum'' is a monotypic genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s from Malaysia belonging to the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

, it was named in Bernard Verdcourt's honour. In Rubiaceae, the names '' Chlorochorion'' Robbr. & Puff and '' Tricalysia verdcourtiana'' Robbr. are dedicated to him.

Selected major works

* Verdcourt, B. (1951–1957). ''Notes on the snails of north-east Tanganyika Territory''. ight parts* Verdcourt, B. et al. (1956–1995). ''

Flora of Tropical East Africa The ''Flora of Tropical East Africa'' (FTEA) is a catalogue of all 12,104 known wild plant species in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The project began in 1948 and was finally completed in September 2012. Approximately 1,500 new plant species were des ...

''. Kew Bulletin and other publications. families.html" ;"title="Family_(biology).html" ;"title="ccounts of 71 Family (biology)">families">Family_(biology).html" ;"title="ccounts of 71 Family (biology)">families* Verdcourt B. (1958) Remarks on the classification of the Rubiaceae. Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat, Brux. 28: 209-281. * Verdcourt, B. et al. (2001–2005). ''

''. Rotterdam: Balkema. [Accounts of 12 families]

References

1925 births 2011 deaths Botanists active in Kew Gardens British botanists British entomologists English taxonomists British malacologists {{UK-botanist-stub