Gaston Isidore Allard (14 April 1838 – 5 January 1918) was a French

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, and founder of The Arboretum Gaston Allard.

Biography

Allard was born on 14 April 1838.Extrait de l'acte de naissance 98 (vue 30 de 103) du registre du 2 de la commune d'Angers : ''L'an mil huit cent trente huit, le quatorze avril, à une heure et demie du soir... est comparu Monsieur Isidor Allard, capitaine d'état major, aide de camp du Général, Comte ordenen, commandant la subdivision de Maine et Loire, chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, de saint ferdinand et de Charles Irvin d'Espagne... ; marié le quatre mai mil huit cent trente, à cette mairie, premier arrondissement. Lequel nous a déclaré que Madame Zoé Gontard, son épouse, est accouchée en leur domicile, ce jour, à une heure et demie du matin... donner les prénoms de Gaston = Isidor.''
en ligne sur le site des Departmental archives of Maine-et-Loire After attending high school, Allard studied under

Alexandre Boreau Alexandre Boreau (March 15, 1803 – May 5, 1875) was a French pharmacist and botanist. He is the binomial authority of plants such as ''Polygonum arenastrum'' and '' Pulmonaria longifolia''. Biography Boreau was born in Saumur, in the departme ...

, the director of the jardin des plantes d'Angers. In 1863, Allard became a member of the

Société entomologique de France Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy p ...

and voyaged to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to study

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

and the regional flora. In 1867, he described the species ''

Kretania martini ''Kretania martini'', or Martin's blue'','' is a species of North African butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and the subfamily Polyommatinae. Systematics The species was first described by French entomologist Gaston Allard in 1867. He initia ...

'' in Algeria. After the death of his father, he inherited the family estate and developed the gardens. In 1875, he began to collect

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

trees. He received support from local plant nurseries, and he received seeds and plants from all over the world. In 1885, he dedicated a polyantha rose variant to his father-in-law, named the .'Daniel Lacombe'
''HelpMeFind''. By 1907, his arboretum contained 2,000 species, including 250 conifers, 125 oaks, and 1,500 shrubs. From 1892 to 1918, Allard served as a member of the city council of Angers. He was placed in charge of the city's gardens, including the redevelopment of the jardin des plantes d'Angers and of the . In 1916, Allard donated his arboretum to the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

. He remained as director. Allard died on 5 January 1918 in Angers.. The botanist Louis Blaringhem, his colleague from the Pasteur Institute, succeeded Allard as arboretum director. His property later became the Muséum des sciences naturelles d'Angers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allard, Gaston French entomologists 19th-century French naturalists 20th-century French botanists 19th-century French botanists 1838 births 1918 deaths