Joseph Decaisne was a French botanist and agronomist

Agronomist

An agronomist is a scientist who specializes in agronomy, which is the science of utilizing plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. An agronomist is an expert in agricultural and allied sciences, with the exception veterinary sciences.Agronomists deal with interactions between plants, soils, and...

.
Although he was born in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Belgium, he exercised his activity exclusively in Paris. He enters in 1824 as gardener to the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

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...

 (French Museum of natural history) and becomes, in 1832, chief of the sowing section.

He became the helper naturalist of the chair of rural botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 of Adrien-Henri de Jussieu

Adrien-Henri de Jussieu

Adrien-Henri de Jussieu was a French botanist.Born in Paris as the son of botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1824 with a treatise of the plant family Euphorbiaceae. When his father retired in 1826, he succeeded him at the Jardin des Plantes; in...

 (1797-1853). It was there that he began to study plants brought back by various travelers like those of Victor Jacquemont

Victor Jacquemont

Victor Jacquemont was a French botanist and geologist.Born in Paris on August 8, 1801, Victor Jacquemont was the youngest of four sons of Venceslas Jacquemont and Rose Laisné....

 (1801-1832) in Asia.
He is also interested in algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

, but it is mainly some applied research, notably on agronomy of the madder

Madder

Rubia is a genus of the madder family Rubiaceae, which contains about 60 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and sub-shrubs native to the Old World, Africa, temperate Asia and America...

, the yam

Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...

 and the ramie

Ramie

Ramie is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is a herbaceous perennial growing to 1–2.5 m tall; the leaves are heart-shaped, 7–15 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, and white on the underside with dense small hairs—this gives it a silvery appearance;...

.

In 1850, Decaisne followed Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel (1776-1854) as the Chair of Culture of the Museum. In 1854 he participated in the creation of the Botanical Society of France.

The genera Decaisnea

Decaisnea

Decaisnea is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lardizabalaceae, native to eastern Asia, from China west to Nepal and south to Myanmar.The genus comprises one or two species, depending on taxonomic opinion. Decaisnea insignis Hook.f...

Hook.f. & Thomson (Lardizabalaceae), Decaisnea Brongn. syn. of Prescottia Lindl. and Decaisnea Lindl. syn. of Tropidia

Tropidia

Tropidia is a genus of more than 30 species of terrestrial, partly saprotrophic orchids distributed from China, Japan through Indonesia....

Lindl. (Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae

The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...

), were named in his honour.

He died in Paris in January 1882.

Contributions to plant taxonomy

He described the following genera of flowering plants: Capanea

Capanea

Capanea is a genus of two species in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. The species are epiphytic and occur in Central America and the Andean regions of South America. Capanea grandiflora is thought to be bat pollinated...

and Chrysothemis

Chrysothemis

Chrysothemis or Khrysothemis , is a name ascribed to several characters in Greek mythology.Most prominently among these, Chrysothemis was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra...

of the Gesneriaceae

Gesneriaceae

Gesneriaceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of ca. 150 genera and ca. 3,200 species in the Old World and New World tropics and subtropics, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants.Most...

 family; Sautiera (Acanthaceae

Acanthaceae

The family Acanthaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species....

); Lepinia

Lepinia

Lepinia is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae. It contains the following species :* Lepinia taitensis, Decne....

, Rhazya (Apocynaceae

Apocynaceae

The Apocynaceae or dogbane family is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas.Many species are tall trees found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics, but some grow in tropical dry, xeric environments. There are also perennial herbs...

); Vancouveria

Vancouveria

Vancouveria is a small genus of plants belonging to the barberry family. The three plants in this genus are known generally as inside-out flowers, and they are endemic to western North America...

(with C.Morren) (Berberidaceae

Berberidaceae

Berberidaceae are a family of 15 genera flowering plants commonly called the barberry family. This family is in the order Ranunculales. The family contains about 570 species, of which the majority are in Berberis...

); Ostryopsis

Ostryopsis

Ostryopsis is a small genus of two species of deciduous shrubs belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. The species have no common English name, though Hazel-hornbeam has been suggested, reflecting their similarities to the closely related Hazels and Hop-hornbeams.The genus is native in western...

(Betulaceae

Betulaceae

Betulaceae, or the Birch Family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams, numbering about 130 species...

); Dipterygium (Capparidaceae); Brassaiopsis

Brassaiopsis

Brassaiopsis is a genus of shrubs of family Araliaceae. It includes about 25 species, distributed in Asia from the Himalaya through China, Vietnam, Thailand to Indonesia. There are 41 species....

, Cuphocarpus

Cuphocarpus

Cuphocarpus is a genus of plant of family Araliaceae, endemic to Madagascar. It comprises 6 species....

*, Dendropanax

Dendropanax

Dendropanax is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, consisting of 92 species of evergreen trees and shrubs. They are native to Central and South America, eastern Asia and the Malay Peninsula....

*, Didymopanax*, Fatsia

Fatsia

Fatsia is a small genus of three species of evergreen shrubs native to southern Japan and Taiwan. They have stout, sparsely branched stems bearing spirally-arranged, large leathery, palmately lobed leaves 20-50 cm in width, on a petiole up to 50 cm long, and small creamy-white flowers in...

*, Oreopanax

Oreopanax

Oreopanax is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Araliaceae, comprising between 80 and 150 species depending on source. They are native to the Americas, with a range extending from Mexico and the Antilles to Argentina and Brazil, with most species occurring above 500 m.a.s.l. Sinopanax was...

*, Stilbocarpa

Stilbocarpa

Stilbocarpa is a genus of flowering plant most often placed in the family Araliaceae; it might be closer to the Apiaceae however. It comprises 3 species, two of which are endemic to New Zealand, while one is also found on Australia's subantarctic Macquarie Island....

*, (* with Planch.) (Araliaceae

Araliaceae

Araliaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the Aralia family or Ivy family. The family includes 254 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and perennial herbaceous plants into 2 subfamilies...

); Berneuxia (Diapensiaceae

Diapensiaceae

Diapensiaceae is a small family of flowering plants, comprising 12 species in five genera. Three of the genera, Berneuxia, Galax, and Pyxidanthera, contain only a single species. The Asian species of Shortia were formerly separated as the genus Schizocodon, and some authors still recognize S....

); Scyphogyne (Ericaceae

Ericaceae

The Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...

); Akebia

Akebia

Akebia is a genus of five species of flowering plant, within the family Lardizabalaceae. The scientific name, akebia, is a Latinization of the Japanese name for species Akebia quinata: .There are five species including:*Akebia chingshuiensis T...

, Boquila

Boquila

Boquila is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the Lardizabalaceae family, native to temperate forests of central and southern Chile and Argentina. The sole species is Boquila trifoliata, known as Pilpil, Voqui, Voquicillo, VOoquillo, Voqui blanco in Chile. It bears an edible fruit ....

(Lardizabalaceae

Lardizabalaceae

Lardizabalaceae is a family of flowering plants.The family has been universally recognized by taxonomists, including the APG II system , which places it in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots....

); Galtonia

Galtonia

Galtonia is genus of plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae; native to South Africa they are named after Sir Francis Galton. G. candicans, also known as Cape Hyacinth, is much propagated as a garden plant. Another species is the pale green flowering G. viridiflora....

(Liliaceae

Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...

 s. l. or Hyacinthaceae

Hyacinthaceae

Scilloideae is a subfamily of the monocot family Asparagaceae in the order Asparagales. The Scilloideae are bulbous flowering plants, which have sometimes been placed in a separate family, the Hyacinthaceae. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, Scilla...

); Treculia

Treculia

Treculia is a genus of trees in the Moraceae plant family that is native to southern Africa and Madagascar. The best-known member of the genus, Treculia africana, commonly known as the African breadfruit, is used as a food plant....

Decne. ex Trecul (Moraceae

Moraceae

Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 40 genera and over 1000 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates...

; Camptotheca (Nyssaceae

Nyssaceae

Nyssaceae is a small family of flowering trees closely related to and often included within the dogwood family . Nyssaceae commonly includes the following genera:...

 or Cornaceae

Cornaceae

Cornaceae is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. It contains approximately 110 species, mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen. Members of this family usually have opposite or alternate simple leaves, four- or five-parted flowers clustered in...

); Ephippiandra (Monimiaceae

Monimiaceae

Monimiaceae is a family of flowering plants, which includes 150-220 species of shrubs and small trees in 18-25 genera. They are native to the southern hemisphere tropics and subtropics. The largest genus is Tambourissa, with 50 species in Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, and the Comoros...

); Pseudais (Thymelaeaceae

Thymelaeaceae

Thymelaeaceae is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera and 898 species. It was established in 1789 by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu.Thymelaeaceae is in the order Malvales...

); Allardia

Allardia

Allardia is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family....

, Lecocarpus

Lecocarpus

Lecocarpus is a plant genus in the family Asteraceae, native to Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.-Species:*Lecocarpus darwinii H. Adsersen*Lecocarpus lecocarpoides Cronquist & Stuessy...

, Wollastonia

Wollastonia

Wollastonia is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family....

DC.

A. P. de Candolle

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle also spelled Augustin Pyrame de Candolle was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at an herbarium...

 ex Decne. (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...

); Gymnotheca (Saururaceae

Saururaceae

Saururaceae is a plant family comprising four genera and seven species of herbaceous flowering plants native to eastern and southern Asia and North America. The family has been recognised by most taxonomists, and is sometimes known as the "lizard's-tail family"...

); Bougueria (Plantaginaceae

Plantaginaceae

Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...

); Docynia

Docynia

Docynia is a genus of flowering trees, evergreen or semi-evergreen, in the family Rosaceae. Their leaves are simple, alternate, and stipulate, with flowers shortly stalked, 2–5-fascicled, and precocious or synantherous. Docynia reproduce following pollination by insect interaction and possess both...

(Rosaceae

Rosaceae

Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...

); Seetzenia R.Br.

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...

 ex Decne.(Zygophyllaceae

Zygophyllaceae

The Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. It includes around 285 species in 22 genera.In the APG III system of classification, the families Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae compose the order Zygophyllales...

); Deherainia

Deherainia

Deherainia is a genus of plants in the Theophrastaceae family, endemic to Central America.- Species :* Deherainia cubensis* Deherainia lageniformis* Deherainia matudae* Deherainia matudai* Deherainia smaragdina- References :*...

(Theophrastaceae

Theophrastaceae

Theophrastaceae is a small family of flowering plants. As currently circumscribed, the family consists of seven genera and 95 species of trees or shrubs, native to tropical regions of the Americas....

); Lopholepis

Lopholepis

Lopholepis is a genus of grass in the Poaceae family.-External links:*...

(Poaceae

Poaceae

The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...

); Asterostemma, Atherandra, Baeolepis Decne. ex Moq., Barjonia, Blepharodon, Calostigma, Camptocarpus,
Decabelone, Decanema, Dictyanthus, Glossonema, Gongronema (Endl.) Decne. , Harpanema, Hemipogon

Hemipogon

Hemipogon is a genus of moth in the family Geometridae. It is considered a synonym of Idaea.-References:*...

, Hoodia

Hoodia

Hoodia is a genus of 13 species in the flowering plant family Apocynaceae, under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae. They are stem succulents, described as "cactiform" because of their remarkable similarity to the unrelated cactus family...

Sweet ex Decne., Ibatia, Macropetalum Burch. ex Decne., Melinia, Mitostigma, Nautonia, Nephradenia, Orthosia

Orthosia

Orthosia is a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family.-Species:* Orthosia achsha* Orthosia acutangula* Orthosia addenda* Orthosia agravens* Orthosia albescens* Orthosia albiceps Hampson, 1894* Orthosia albomarginata...

, Pentopetia, Peplonia, Periglossum, Pherotrichis, Polystemma, Ptycanthera, Pycnoneurum, Pycnostelma Bunge ex Decne.,
Rhyssostelma, Riocreuxia, Tacazzea, Tassadia, Trichosandra ( Asclepiadaceae

Asclepiadaceae

According to APG II, the Asclepiadaceae is a former plant family now treated as a subfamily in the Apocynaceae...

 or Apocynaceae s. l.); Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 170 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family...

Blume ex Decne. (Araceae

Araceae

Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...

) and Leptopus (Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....

 s. l. or Phyllanthaceae

Phyllanthaceae

Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae. The Phyllanthaceae are most numerous in the tropics, with many in the south temperate zone, and a few ranging as far north as the middle of the north temperate...

).

Works

• Le jardin fruitier du Museum (The fructiferous garden of the Museum) in 9 volumes (1858-1875)
• Traité général de botanique descriptive et analytique (General Treatise of descriptive and analytic botany), Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1876 [in collaboration with Emmanuel Le Maout
  Emmanuel Le Maout
  Jean-Emmanuel-Marie Le Maout was a French naturalistIn 1842 Le Maout qualified as a physician at the University of Paris where he came a Demonstrator of Natural Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine. Later he gave private lessons in literature and natural history...
  
  ]
• Mexicanas plantas (Plants of Mexico, 1872-1886 [in collaboration with others]. (available at Botanicus.org)