Charles Antoine Lemaire
Encyclopedia
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- June 1871 Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
), was a French botanist and botanical author, noted for his publications on Cactaceae.
Born the son of Antoine Charles Lemaire and Marie Jeanne Davio, he had an excellent early education, and acquired the reputation of being an outstanding scholar. He studied at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
and was appointed as Professor of Classical Literature there. At some stage his botanical interest was sparked and developed by his association with M. Neumann, horticulturist at the Museum of Natural History
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
.
He worked for some time as an assistant to M. Mathieu, at a nursery in Paris, building up a collection of cactaceae, a group to which he would devote almost all of his life. In 1835, M. Cousin, a Parisian publisher, started a gardening journal and requested that he be its editor. For a number of years, he remained editor of Jardin Fleuriste and L'Horticulteur Universel, contributing greatly to the content. In 1845 he moved to Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
as editor of the journal Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe
Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe
Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe was one of the finest horticulture journals produced in Europe during the 19th century, spanning 23 volumes and over 2000 coloured plates with French, German and English text...
, started by Louis van Houtte
Louis van Houtte
Louis Benoit van Houtte was a Belgian horticulturist who was with the Jardin Botanique de Brussels between 1836 and 1838 and is best-known for the journal Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe, produced with Charles Lemaire and M...
. In 1854 he turned to editing L'Illustration Horticole, also in Ghent and owned by Ambroise Verschaffelt
Ambroise Verschaffelt
Ambroise Verschaffelt was a distinguished Belgian horticulturist and author. He founded the L'Illustration Horticole at Ghent in 1854 and introduced many new camellia species. The Verschaffelts were a family of Belgian nurserymen specializing in camellias. They published the Nouvelle Iconographie...
, and stayed there until 1870 when he returned to Paris and died there in June 1871.
In addition to his enormous contributions to the journals he edited, Lemaire also published numerous papers on the Cactaceae and succulents. Some of these are Cactearum aliquot novarum (1838); Cactearum genera nova speciesque novae (1839); Iconographie descriptive des Cactees (1841–1847); Les plantes grasses (1869). He never published a major work on the Cactaceae, despite having collected all the material and a wealth of experience. He always lived in semi-poverty and never attracted the attention of a wealthy sponsor. Edouard Andre
Édouard André
Édouard François André was a French horticulturalist, landscape designer, as well as a leading landscape architect of the late 19th century, famous for designing city parks and public spaces of Monte Carlo and Montevideo....
(1840–1911), who succeeded him as editor of L'Illustration Horticole, felt that "Posterity will esteem M. Lemaire more highly than did his contemporaries."
The Australian genus of herbaceous shrubs Maireana
Maireana
Maireana is a genus of around 57 species of perennial shrubs and herbs in the family Amaranthaceae which are endemic to Australia. Species in this genus were formerly classified within the genus Kochia...
is named in his honour.
This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Lem. when citing
Author citation (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, author citation refers to citing the person who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...
a botanical name
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
.