Ernest Saint-Charles Cosson (July 22, 1819 – December 31, 1889) was a French botanist born in 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...

He is remembered for his studies of botanical species from North Africa, and during his career participated in eight trips to Algeria. With Jacques Nicolas Ernest Germain de Saint-Pierre

Jacques Nicolas Ernest Germain de Saint-Pierre

Jacques Nicolas Ernest Germain de Saint-Pierre was a French botanist. The plant genus Germainia of the family Poaceae is named in his honor....

 (1815–1882), he published the influential Atlas de la Flore des Environs de Paris. From 1873 to 1889 he was a member of the Académie des sciences.

A number of botanical species contain his name, such as: Teucrium cossonii (Fruity Teucrium

Teucrium

Teucrium is a genus of perennial plants, of the family Lamiaceae. Common names for this genus include germanders. These species are herbs, shrubs or subshrubs...

), Pyrus cossonii (Algerian pear

Pear

The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....

), Limprichtia cossonii, Hypnum cossonii and Scorpidium cossonii.

Selected writings

• Atlas de la flore des environs de Paris ou illustrations de toutes les espèces des genres difficiles et de la plupart des plantes litigieuses de cette région, 1845
• Rapport sur un Voyage botanique en Algérie, de Philippeville a` Biskra et dansles Monts Aure's, 1856
• Instructions sur les observations et les collections botaniques à faire dans les voyages, 1872
• Note sur le projet de création en Algérie d'une mer dite intérieure, 1880
• Forets, bois et broussailles des principales localités du Nord de la Tunisie explores. 1883