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

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 ...

born in Paris. Cosson is known for his botanical research in North Africa, and during his career he participated in eight trips to Algeria. 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'', '' Galium perralderii''). In 1863 he was elected president of the '' Société botanique de France'', and from 1873 to 1889, he was a member of the '' Académie des sciences''. In 1882 Jules Ferry, 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 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,

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 Natural ...

, the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the National Herbarium of Victoria at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Copenhagen University Botanical Museum, the New York Botanical Garden, 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