Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart

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Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Author abbrev. (botany)Brongn.

Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart (French:

author abbreviation Brongn. when citing a botanical name.[1]

Brongniart's works

Brongniart was an indefatigable investigator and a prolific writer of books and memoirs. As early as 1822, he published a paper on the classification and distribution of fossil plants. This was followed by several papers chiefly bearing upon the relation between extinct and existing forms - a line of research which culminated in the publication of the Histoire des végétaux fossiles ("History of fossil plants"), which has earned for him the title of "father of paleobotany." This classification arranged fossil plants with their nearest living allies; it formed the basis of much subsequent work in paleobotany. It is of especial botanical interest, because, in accordance with

lycopodiopsid, Sigillaria, an extinct plant related to the living club mosses
, and his researches (almost the last he undertook) on fossil seeds, of which a full account was published posthumously in 1880.

Other pursuits

He was active in many branches of botany, including anatomy and the taxonomy of

Robert Brown's views as to the structure of the unimpregnated ovule (with the introduction of the term "sac embryonnaire", or embryo sac), showing how nearly Brongniart anticipated Amici's subsequent (1846) discovery of the entrance of the pollen-tube into the micropyle, fertilizing the female cell, which then develops into the embryo
.

Of his anatomical works, those of the greatest value are probably the "Recherches sur la structure et les fonctions des feuilles ("Research on the structure and function of leaves"), and the Nouvelles recherches sur l'épiderme ("New research on the epidermis"), in which, among other important observations, the discovery of the cuticle is recorded; and, further, the Recherches sur l'organisation des tiges des Cycadées ("Research on the organization of cycad stems"), giving the results of the first investigation of the anatomy of those plants.

His systematic work is represented by a large number of papers and monographs, many of which relate to the

French National Museum of Natural History; it is a landmark in the history of classification in that it forms the starting-point of the classification system, modified successively by Alexander Braun, August W. Eichler and Adolf Engler
, which was not superseded until the development of DNA research.

In addition to his scientific and professorial labours, Brongniart held various important official posts in connection with the department of education, and interested himself greatly in agricultural and horticultural matters. With

Société Botanique de France
in 1854, and was its first president.

Brongniart died in Paris in 1872 and is buried in Division 20 of the Cimetière du Père Lachaise.[2]

The standard author abbreviation Brongn. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[3]

References

  1. ISBN 1-84246-085-4
    .
  2. ^ "BRONGNIART Adolphe Théodore (1801-1872)".
  3. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Brongn.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Brongniart, Adolphe Théodore". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Brongniart, Adolphe Théodore".
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