Bernard Verdcourt (20 January 1925 – 25 October 2011) was a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually speciali ...

and

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

, most widely known as a botanist and latterly an honorary research fellow 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 ...

in London. Prior to coming to Kew in 1964, he was associated with the East African Herbarium for 15 years. Although his best-known work probably consists of his many studies of the East African

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, he has also made extensive contributions relating to African terrestrial

mollusks Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

and to

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. Dr. Verdcourt received the Linnean Medal for botany from the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 2000.Award to Bernard Vercourt. Kew Scientist: Apr 2000(17):4. Kew Gardenshttp://www.linnean.org/index.php?id=347 Linnean Society of London His list of publications includes more than 1,000

scientific works : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...

Eponymy

In 2012, botanists H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi published '' Verdesmum'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s from Malaysia belonging to the family Fabaceae, it was named in Bernard Verdcourt's honour. In Rubiaceae, the names ''

Chlorochorion ''Pentanisia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Species The genus contains about 19 species. * ''Pentanisia angustifolia'' (Hochst.) Hochst. * ''Pentanisia annua'' K.Schum. * ''Pentanisia arenaria'' (Hiern) Verdc. * ''Pent ...

'' Robbr. & Puff and ''

Tricalysia verdcourtiana ''Tricalysia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is found in tropical and southern Africa and on the islands in the Western Indian Ocean. Species * '' Tricalysia achoundongiana'' Robbr., Sonké & Kenfack * ''T ...

'' Robbr. are dedicated to him.

Selected major works

* Verdcourt, B. (1951–1957). ''Notes on the snails of north-east

Tanganyika Territory Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 to 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a L ...

''. ight parts* Verdcourt, B. et al. (1956–1995). ''

Flora of Tropical East Africa The ''Flora of Tropical East Africa'' (FTEA) is a catalogue of all 12,104 known wild plant species in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The project began in 1948 and was finally completed in September 2012. Approximately 1,500 new plant species were des ...

''. Kew Bulletin and other publications.

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

] * Verdcourt B. (1958) Remarks on the classification of the Rubiaceae. Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat, Brux. 28: 209-281. * Verdcourt, B. et al. (2001–2005). ''

''. Rotterdam: Balkema. ccounts of 12 families

References

1925 births 2011 deaths Botanists active in Kew Gardens British botanists British entomologists English taxonomists British malacologists {{UK-botanist-stub