Théodore (Teodoro) Caruel (27 June 1830 – 4 December 1898) was an Italian

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 ...

of French-English parentage who specialized in flora of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. He was born in Chandernagor, a French colonial enclave north of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, where his father served as a French official. At the age of 15, he moved with his family to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where soon afterwards, he developed an interest in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

, in particular, flora native to Tuscany. In 1858 he began work as an assistant to Filippo Parlatore, and within a few years was given the title of coadjutor. With Parlatore, he conducted research at the '' Orto Botanico di Firenze'' (botanic museum of Florence) and worked on the development of the Florence

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

.Google Books
Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, Volume 37 edited by Berthold SeemannJSTOR Global Plants
biography In 1862 he was named an associate professor at the scientific academy in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, returning to Florence one year later as a professor of botany at the medical college. In 1871 he transferred to

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, where he taught classes in botany at the Athenaeum, and in 1880, again returned to Florence, this time serving as director of its botanical institute. After his death, his herbarium was donated to the botanical institute at the University of Pisa. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

, he circumscribed the plant families Sarcolaenaceae, Stemonaceae and

Welwitschiaceae Welwitschiaceae is a family of plants of the order Gnetales with one living species, '' Welwitschia mirabilis'', found in southwestern Africa. Three fossil genera have been recovered from the Crato Formation – late Aptian ( Lower Cretaceous) s ...

, and was the botanical authority of several genera and numerous species. The genus '' Caruelina'' (family

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

) was named in his honor by

Otto Kuntze Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist. Biography Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig. An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866, he ...

Published works

He is credited with the continuation of Parlatore's massive "''Flora Italiana''" project (first volume 1848), of which he contributed several new volumes from 1884 onward. Other noted written efforts by Caruel include: *"Illustratio in hortum siccum Andreae Caesalpini ..." (1858); On the herbarium of Andrea Caesalpino. *"Correspondence : Caruel (Teodoro) and Engelmann (George), 1864–1880". On correspondence with American botanist

George Engelmann George Engelmann, also known as Georg Engelmann, (2 February 1809 – 4 February 1884) was a German-American botanist. He was instrumental in describing the flora (plants), flora of the west of North America, then very poorly known to Europeans; ...

, published in English. *''Statistica botanica della Toscana, ossia, Saggio di studi sulla distribuzione geografica delle piante toscane'', (1871). *''Prodromo della flora toscana, ossia'', (1880).WorldCat Search
published works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caruel, Teodoro 1830 births 1898 deaths Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Florence Academic staff of the University of Milan 19th-century Italian botanists