Camellia Principessa Rospigliosi from Nouvelle iconographie des camellias by Ambroise Alexandre Verschaffelt

Ambroise Colette Alexandre Verschaffelt (11 December 1825 – 16 May 1886) was a distinguished Belgian

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

and author. His grandfather Pierre-Antoine (1764–1844) was amongst the founders of the "Floralies gantoises" in 1808. His father Alexandre (1801–1850) was a major horticulturist of his city. The Verschaffelts were a family of Belgian

nurserymen A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

specializing in ''

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

'', ''

Azalea Azaleas ( ) are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi, Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate ...

'', and palms. They introduced many new species from abroad–in particular from South America–collected for them by "plant hunters". They published the ''Nouvelle Iconographie des Camellias'' (1848–1860) : it continues

Lorenzo Berlèse The Abbe Berlèse (1784 in Campomolino, Italy – August 16, 1863 in Campomolino, Italy) was the greatest camellia scholar of the nineteenth century. He was born and died in Campomolino, Italy. He was ordained priest in the Seminario Vescovile ...

’s work ''Iconographie du genre Camellia''. In 1854, Ambroise took over from Charles Lemaire "Le Jardin Fleuriste" which became "L'Illustration Horticole" in 1858. Ambroise sold his business to Jean Linden (1817–1899) in 1869, together with "L'Illustration Horticole". He then retired but continued to be active on the botanical scene an acted at different occasions as a counselor to King Léopold II for his famous hothouses of

Laeken (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of the ...

. Ambroise was vice-president of the Royal Society for Agriculture and Botany of Ghent; he obtained numerous medals and prizes in horticultural exhibitions in his own country as well as in the United Kingdom (Cheltenham 1853, London 1861), Russia (Saint Petersburg 1869) and other countries.

Family

250px, The Verschaffelt nursery in Ghent (1854). * Pierre-Antoine Verschaffelt (1764–1844), not to be mistaken with the sculptor Pieter-Antoon Verschaffelt (1710–1793), * Alexandre-Jacques Verschaffelt (1801–1850) first son of P-A Verschaffelt, * Louis Verschaffelt, second son of P-A Verschaffelt, * Jean-Charles Verschaffelt, (d. 1884) third son of P-A Verschaffelt, * Ambroise Verschaffelt (1825–1886), son of Alexandre-Jacques Verschaffelt, * Jean Nuytens-Verschaffelt (1836–1880), adopted son of Jean-Charles Verschaffelt.

References

* Robert De Bauw and Luc Dhaeze ''"VERSCHAFFELT, une dynastie d'entrepreneurs horticulteurs à Gand au XIX siècle".'' De Bauw-Nias Foundation, Brussels, March 2013, 142pp.,

External links and sources

* (several volumes full text at google book search)
camellia Madame Ambroise Verschaffelt
*The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture: A Discussion for the Amateur, and ...by Liberty Hyde Bailey – Gardening – 1917 (at Google Books)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verschaffelt, Ambroise 1825 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Belgian botanists Belgian horticulturists Scientists from Ghent