Alexandre de Cassini
Encyclopedia
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, who specialised in the sunflower family (Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
) (then known as family Compositae).
He was the youngest of five children of Jacques Dominique, Comte de Cassini
Dominique, comte de Cassini
This article is about the French astronomer. For his Italian-born great-grandfather, see Giovanni Domenico Cassini.Jean-Dominique, comte de Cassini was a French astronomer, son of César-François Cassini de Thury....
, who had succeeded his father as the director of the Paris Observatory
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...
, famous for completing the map of France. He was also the great-great-grandson of famous Italian-French astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Giovanni Domenico Cassini
This article is about the Italian-born astronomer. For his French-born great-grandson, see Jean-Dominique Cassini.Giovanni Domenico Cassini was an Italian/French mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer...
, discoverer of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's Great Red Spot and the Cassini division in Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's rings.
The genus Cassinia
Cassinia
Cassinia is a large genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, most or all of which are native to the Southern Hemisphere. It was named for French botanist Alexandre de Cassini.Species include:*Cassinia accipitrum Orchard...
was named in his honour by the botanist Robert Brown
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
.
He named many flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s and new genera in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), many of them from North America. He published 65 papers and 11 reviews in the [Nouveau] Bulletin des Sciences par la Société Philomatique de Paris
Philomatic society
A philomatic society is an association of persons who love sciences. The term "philomatic" is no longer in use. The philomatic societies were influential in the nineteenth century...
between 1812 and 1821.
In 1825, Cassini placed the North American taxa of Prenanthes in the new genus Nabalus, now considered a subgenus of Prenanthes (family Asteraceae, tribe Lactuceae).
In 1828 he named Dugaldia hoopesii for the Scottish naturalist Dugald Stewart (1753-1828).
Some genera (originally) named by him :
- BrachyscomeBrachyscomeBrachyscome is a genus of around 70 species of mostly annual and perennial herbs and a few subshrubs in the daisy family Asteraceae. 65 of these are endemic to Australia, the remainder being found in New Zealand and New Guinea...
(1816) - CarphephorusCarphephorusCarphephorus is a genus of seven herbaceous perennials native to the southeastern United States. They flower in late summer to fall.- Classification :...
- DracopisDracopisDracopis is a monotypic genus with Dracopis amplexicaulis the sole species. It is native to North America....
Cassini (ConeflowerConeflowerConeflower is a common name of at least four genera of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae:*Dracopis*Echinacea*Rudbeckia*Ratibida...
) - EmiliaEmilia (genus)Emilia is a herbaceous plant genus of about 50–100 species in the family Asteraceae, known as tasselflower or pualele. The members of the genus are distributed mainly in the tropics and sub-tropics.-Species List:...
Cassini (TasselflowerTasselflowerTasselflowers are flowering plants of the genus Emilia in the family Asteraceae. There are about 90 species in this genus, mostly from Africa and Asia. Some members have also been placed in genus Cacalia and elsewhere...
) - EurybiaEurybia (botanical genus)Eurybia is a genus of plants in the composite family that were previously included in the genus Aster. All species are native to North America, though some are also present in northern Eurasia. There are 23 species in the genus including 1 hybrid. The name was first applied by Alexandre de Cassini...
(Cassini) S.F. Gray - EuthamiaEuthamiaEuthamia is a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae, commonly referred to as Goldentop. The species were formerly classed with Solidago, the goldenrods....
(Nuttall) Cassini 1825 (Flat-topped Goldenrod) - FacelisFacelisFacelis is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae....
Cassini - GuizotiaGuizotiaGuizotia is a genus of six species of native African herbs. They are often known as sunflecks. The species G. abyssinica is occasionally found outside of cultivation in North America and Asia....
Cassini (Niger-seed) - Helianthus pauciflorusHelianthus pauciflorusThe Stiff Sunflower is an ornamental plant in the Asteraceae family.-External links:*...
Nuttall ssp. pauciflorus, (Stiff Sunflower), also reported as by Helianthus laetiflorus var. rigidus and H. rigidus (Cassini) Desf. - Heterotheca Cassini (Camphorweed, Golden-aster)
- IxerisIxerisIxeris is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family.-Selected species:* Ixeris afghanica Rech.f. & Köie* Ixeris alpicola Nakai* Ixeris ameristophylla Stebbins* Ixeris brachyrhyncha Nemoto...
(Cassini) Cassini - LigulariaLigulariaLigularia, Leopard Plant, is a genus of "Old World" perennial plants or herbs resembling groundsel of the family Asteraceae. Ligularias are rather tall perennial herbaceous plants occurring mostly in damp places in Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of them are cultivated as ornamentals.-Some...
Cassini - PallenisPallenisPallenis is a small genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family . The type species is Pallenis spinosa. The name is derived from palea , referring to the chaffy receptacle....
Cassini - PlucheaPlucheaPluchea is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. Members of this genus might be known as camphorweeds, plucheas, or less uniquely "fleabanes". Some are called sourbushes. There are at least 40 species in the genus. They are native to tropical and warm temperate areas...
Cassini (Marsh-Fleabane) - SclerolepisSclerolepisSclerolepis is an aquatic plant native to the eastern United States. It lives in ponds and other wet areas. When water is abundant, the plant lives underwater, with long stems and flaccid, elongated leaves, and does not flower. When the water level drops, it assumes a form more familiar in...
Cassini (Sclerolepis) - YoungiaYoungiaYoungia is an Asiatic genus of Asteraceae. There are several weed species in the genus including the endangered Youngia nilgiriensis Babcock from Sispara and Youngia japonica, which is also known as Japanese Hawkweed....
Cassini (Youngia) - TaraxacumTaraxacumTaraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety...
Cassini (dandelion)