Ernest Saint-Charles Cosson (22 July 1819 – 31 December 1889) was a French botanist born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. Cosson is known for his botanical research in North Africa, and during his career he participated in eight trips to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

. In several of these he was accompanied by Henri-René Le Tourneux de la Perraudière (1831-1861),pdf
/ref> whom he honoured in the naming of several species and genera (e.g., ''

Perralderia ''Perralderia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae, daisy family and is native to Africa. In particular, it is native to Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Western Sahara. In naming the genus, ''Perralderia'', Ernest Cosson was honourin ...

'', ''

Galium perralderii ''Galium perralderii'' is a species of flowering plant, native to Algeria, in the family Rubiaceae. This plant was first described in 1862 by Ernest Cosson. The specific epithet, ''perralderii'', honours Cosson The Cosson () is a long river ...

''). In 1863 he was elected president of the ''

Société botanique de France The Société botanique de France (SBF) is a French learned society founded on 23 April 1854. At its inaugural meeting it stated its purpose as "to contribute to the progress of botany and related sciences and to facilitate, by all means at its di ...

'', and from 1873 to 1889, he was a member of the ''

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...

''. In 1882

Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...

, as Minister of Public Instruction, decided to create a mission to explore the Regency of Tunisia. The expedition was headed by Cosson and included the botanist

Napoléon Doumet-Adanson Napoléon Doumet-Adanson (22 October 1834, Guéret – 31 May 1897 Château de Balaine ( Villeneuve-sur-Allier) was a French naturalist. He was a botanist specialising in the flora of Tunisia . He was a founder member of the Société d'horticu ...

and other naturalists. In 1884 a geological section under

Georges Rolland Georges Rolland (23 January 1852 – 25 July 1910) was a French geologist and industrialist, a member of the Corps des mines, who worked in Algeria in the 1880s. He made important discoveries about the underground hydrology of the Sahara. He was ...

was added to the Tunisian Scientific Exploration Mission. Rolland was assisted by

Philippe Thomas Philippe Thomas (4 May 1843 – 12 February 1910) was a French veterinarian and amateur geologist who discovered large deposits of phosphates in Tunisia. Despite the huge economic importance of his discovery, he received little recognition during ...

from 1885 and by

Georges Le Mesle Georges Le Mesle (21 August 1828 – 31 December 1895) was a French geologist. He is best known for his work on the geology of northern and southern Tunisia, which he undertook between 1887 and 1891. Life Georges Le Mesle was a geologist, paleont ...

in 1887. With

Jacques Nicolas Ernest Germain de Saint-Pierre Jacques Nicolas Ernest Germain de Saint-Pierre (1 December 1814, Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier – 28 June 1882, Hyères) was a French botanist.

(1815–1882), Cosson published the influential ''Atlas de la Flore des Environs de Paris''. Botanical specimens collected by Cosson are held in many herbaria around the world, including the

National Museum of Natural History, France The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loca ...

Harvard University Herbaria The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natura ...

, the herbarium 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 1,10 ...

, the

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.5 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known a ...

at the

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanic gardens across two sites–Melbourne and Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was reserved on the south side of the Yarra River for a new botanic garden. It extends across ...

Copenhagen University Botanical Museum The Botanical Museum in Copenhagen originated as a part of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden, which was established in 1600. It was later separated as an independent institution. Since 2004, the Botanical Museum forms part of the Natural History Museu ...

, the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a ...

, and the Komarov Botanical Institute, among others.

Selected writings

* * ''Introduction à la Flore d'Algérie'', etc. (with

Michel Charles Durieu de Maisonneuve Michel Charles Durieu de Maisonneuve (7 December 1796 – 20 February 1878) was a French soldier and botanist who was a native of Saint-Eutrope-de-Born in the department of Lot-et-Garonne. He studied at École Militaire de Brienne, and later at t ...

), 1854. * ''Rapport sur un Voyage botanique en Algérie, de Philippeville a` Biskra et dans les Monts Aure's'', 1856. * ''Instructions sur les observations et les collections botaniques à faire dans les voyages'', 1872 * ''Note sur le projet de création en Algérie d'une mer dite intérieure'', 1880 * ''Forets, bois et broussailles des principales localités du Nord de la Tunisie explores'', 1883.Google Books
Forêts, bois et broussailles des principales localités du Nord de la Tunisie explorées * Compendium florae Atlanticae ..Volume I. Première partie.- Historique et Géographie..., 1881 * Compendium florae Atlanticae ..Volume II. Supplément à la partie historique et flore des états barbaresques..., 1887 * Illustrationes florae Atlanticae ..Volumen I..., 1882-1890 * Illustrationes florae Atlanticae ..Volumen II..., 1892-1897 * Instructions sur les observations et les collections botaniques à faire dans les voyages..., 1872 * Note sur la flore del la Kroumirie centrale..., 1885 * Notes sur quelques plantes critiques, rares ou nouvelles..., 1849-1852 * Cosson, Ernest Saint-Charles & Germain de Saint-Pierre, Jacques-Nicolas-Ernest ** Atlas de la flore des environs de Paris ..Deuxième édition..., 1882 ** Flore descriptive et analytique des environs de Paris..., 1845 ** Flore escriptive et analytiquedes environs de Paris ..Deuxième édition..., 1861 ** Observations sur quelques plantes critiques des environs de Paris..., 1840 ** Supplément au Catalogue raisonné des plantes vasculaires des environs Paris..., 1843 ** Synopsis analytique de la flore des environs de Paris ..Deuxième édition..., 1859 ** Synopsis analytique de la flore des environs de Paris ..Troisième édition..., 1876 * Cosson, Ernest Saint-Charles ; Germain de Saint-Pierre, Jacques-Nicolas-Ernest & Weddell, Hugh Algernon ** Introduction à une flore analytique et descriptive des environs de Paris..., 1842

References

Sources

* * * 19th-century French botanists 1819 births 1889 deaths Botanists active in Africa Members of the French Academy of Sciences Scientists from Paris Taxon authorities of Hypericum species {{France-botanist-stub