Eugène Bourgeau
Eugène Bourgeau (1813–1877) was a French naturalist. He was native of Brizon in the département of Haute-Savoie in France.
Biographical information
As a young man, he worked at the botanical garden in Lyon, where his influences included Nicolas Charles Seringe and Claude Thomas Alexis Jordan.[1] In 1843 he relocated to Paris, where he was hired by Philip Barker Webb as a herbarium assistant. In 1845-46 he collected plants for the "Webb collection" in the Canary Islands.[2]
He had previously been a botanical collector in Spain, North Africa and the Canary Islands before joining the British North American Exploring Expedition of western Canada from 1857 to 1860.[3] In Canada, he collected botanical specimens north of Lake Superior and areas around Lake Winnipeg, also journeying down the Saskatchewan River and venturing into the Rocky Mountains.[2]
Later expeditions included two trips to Asia Minor (the Lycia region and the Pontic Mountains), a journey to Spain and the Balearic Islands (1863), a scientific mission to Mexico (1865–66), and in 1870, a trip to the island of Rhodes.[1][2]
Bourgeau did not publish any botanical literature.[2] He reportedly was a terrible speller and grammarian.[1]
Patronyms
The name of Eugène Bourgeau is commemorated with Mount Bourgeau, a peak located in Banff National Park.[4]
In honor of him, several taxonomic patronyms were also given in plants:
- the genus Bourgaea was named by Ernest Cosson.[2][5]
- the species names Anthemis bourgaei, Bupleurum bourgaei, Muscari bourgaei, Onosma bourgaei, Phlomis bourgaei, Quercus bourgaei, and Tillandsia bourgaei.
References
- Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists edited by Keir Brooks Sterling
- JSTOR Global Plants (biography of Bourgeau)
- James Hector's Journal Archived 2005-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Place-names of Alberta. Ottawa: Geographic Board of Canada. 1928. p. 23.
- Index Nominum Genericorum database Bourgaea - Smithsonian Institution