Élie Antoine Octave Lignier (25 February 1855, in Pougy – 19 March 1916, in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

) was a French botanist, known for his work in the field of

paleobotany Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments ( pal ...

. From 1880 to 1887 he worked as assistant to Charles Eugène Bertrand at the

University of Lille The University of Lille (, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the merger of three universities ...

. He obtained his doctorate in sciences at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and from 1887 gave lectures in botany at the

University of Caen The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

. In 1889 he received the title of professor, and from 1896 served as director of the botanical garden at Caen.BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications Caen plaque Octave Lignier

He is known for his pioneer research of what would become known as the " telome theory", a concept involving the evolutionary history of land plants. The fungus genera ''

Ligniera ''Ligniera'' is a protist genus of the family Plasmodiophoraceae. The genus name of ''Ligniera'' is in honour of Élie Antoine Octave Lignier (1855–1916), who was a French botanist, known for his work in the field of paleobotany. References ...

'' ( Maire & A.Tison, 1911; family

Plasmodiophoraceae The plasmodiophores (also known as plasmophorids or plasmodiophorids) are a group of obligate endoparasitic protists belonging to the subphylum Endomyxa in Cercozoa. Taxonomically, they are united under a single family Plasmodiophoridae, order Pl ...

) and ''Lignieria'' (

A.Chev. Auguste Jean Baptiste Chevalier (June 1873, in Domfront – June 1956, in Paris) was a French botanist, taxonomist, and explorer of tropical Africa, especially of French colonial empire in Africa that included Côte d'Ivoire. He also explored an ...

; family

Melastomataceae Melastomataceae () is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs ...

, now a synonym of ''

Dissotis ''Dissotis'' is a genus of plants in the family Melastomataceae. It includes nine species of annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, or small trees which are native to tropical Africa. Etymology The generic name is based on the Greek word , which mea ...

'' ), commemorate his name.

Selected works

* ''La Graine et le fruit des Calycanthées'', 1891 – The seed and the fruit of

Calycanthaceae The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrubs or spicebushes) are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 known species , restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions: They are aromatic, d ...

. * ''Végétaux fossiles de Normandie'' (7 parts 1894–1913) –

Fossil plants Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments ( pal ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. * ''Essai sur l'évolution morphologique du Règne végétal'', 1909 – Essay on the morphological evolution of the plant kingdom.Lignier, Octave (1855-1916)
IdRef / SUDOC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lignier, Octave 1855 births 1916 deaths People from Aube Academic staff of the University of Caen Normandy Paleobotanists 19th-century French botanists 20th-century French botanists