Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart

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Adolphe Brongniart.
Adolphe Brongniart.

Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart (January 14, 1801 - February 18, 1876) was a French botanist. He was the son of the geologist Alexandre Brongniart and grandson of the architect, Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart. Brongniart's pioneering work on the relationships between extinct and existing plants has earned him the title of father of paleobotany. His major work on plant fossils was his Histoire des végétaux fossiles (1828–37). He wrote his dissertation on the Buckthorn Family (Rhamnaceae), an extant Flowering plant family, and worked at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris until his death on the 8 February 1876.

Brongniart was an indefatigable investigator and a prolific writer, so that he left behind him, as the fruit of his labours, a large number 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 vegetaux fossiles, which has earned for him the title of "father of palaeobotany." This brought order into chaos by a classification in which the fossil plants were arranged, with remarkably correct insight, along with their nearest living allies, and which formed the basis of much subsequent progress in paleobotany. It is of especial botanical interest, because, in accordance with Robert Brown's discoveries, the Cycadeae and Coniferae were placed in the new group the gymnosperms. In his Histoire des végétaux fossiles attention was also directed to the succession of forms in the various geological periods, with the important result (stated in modern terms) that in the Palaeozoic period the Pteridophyta are found to predominate; in the Mesozoic, the Gymnosperms; in the Cenozoic, the Angiosperms, a result subsequently more fully stated in his Tableau des genres de végétaux fossiles. But the great Histoire itself was not destined to be more than a colossal fragment; the publication of successive parts proceeded regularly from 1828 to 1837, when the first volume was completed, but after that only three parts of the second volume appeared. Brongniart, no doubt, was overwhelmed with the continually increasing magnitude of the task that he had undertaken. Apart from his more comprehensive works, his most important palaeontological contributions are perhaps his observations on the structure of the arborescent lycopod, Sigillaria, and 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.

His activity was by no means confined to palaeobotany, but extended into all branches of botany, more particularly anatomy and phanerogamic taxonomy. Among his achievements in these directions the most notable is the memoir Sur la génération et le développement de l'embryon des Phanérogames. This is remarkable in that it contains the first account of any value of the development of the pollen; as also a description of the structure of the pollen-grain, the confirmation of Giovanni Battista Amici's (1823) discovery of the pollen-tube, the confirmation of Robert Brown's views as to the structure of the unimpregnated ovule (with the introduction of the term "sac embryonnaire", or embryo sac); and in that it shows 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", and the Nouvelles recherches sur 1'épiderme, in which, among other important observations, the discovery of the cuticle is recorded; and, further, the Recherches sur l'organisation des tiges des Cycadées, 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 flora of New Caledonia; and by his Énumération des genres de plantes cultivées au Musée d'histoire naturelle de Paris (1843), which is an interesting landmark in the history of classification in that it forms the starting-point of the system, modified successively by Alexander Braun, August W. Eichler and Adolf Engler, which is now adopted in Germany. 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 Jean Victoire Audouin and Jean-Baptiste Dumas, his future brothers-in-law, he established the Annales des Sciences Naturelles in 1824; he also founded the Société botanique de France in 1854, and was its first president.

For accounts of his life and work see Bull. de la Soc. géol. de France, 1876, and La Nature, 1876; the Bulletin de la Soc. bot. de France for 1876, vol. xxiii., contains a list of his works and the orations pronounced at his funeral. (S. H. V.*)

Brongniart founded the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, a peer-reviewed journal, in 1824 with Jean Victoire Audouin and Jean-Baptiste Dumas. He also founded the Société Botanique de France in 1854, and was its first president.

[edit] Genera named by Brongniart, in family order



  • Araceae
    • Scaphispatha Brongn. ex Schott
    • Taccarum Brongn. ex Schott
    • Taccarum Brongn.






  • Bruniaceae
    • Audouinia Brongn.
    • Berardia Brongn.
    • Berzelia Brongn.
    • Raspalia Brongn.
    • Thamnea Sol. ex Brongn.
    • Tittmannia Brongn.







  • Cyperaceae
    • Becquerelia Brongn.
    • Elaeocharis Brongn.
    • Pleurostachys Brongn.




  • Elaeocarpaceae
    • Dubouzetia Pancher ex Brongn.
    • Dubouzetia Pancher ex Brongn. & Griseb.



  • Ericaceae
    • Scyphogyne Brongn. & Phillips
    • Scyphogyne Brongn.



  • Fabaceae
    • Bartlingia Brongn.
    • Chorosema Brongn.




  • Fabaceae
    • Bartlingia Brongn.
    • Chorosema Brongn.
    • Coquebertia Brongn.
    • Dorychnium Brongn.




  • Malvaceae
    • Kosteletskya Brongn.
    • Lebretonnia Brongn.



  • Myrtaceae
    • Arillastrum Pancher ex Brongn. & Gris
    • Bertholletia Brongn.
    • Cloezia Brongn. & Gris
    • Fremya Brongn. & Gris
    • Piliocalyx Brongn. & Gris
    • Pleurocalyptus Brongn. & Gris
    • Salisia Pancher ex Brongn. & Gris
    • Spermolepis Brongn. & Gris
    • Tristaniopsis Brongn. & Gris
    • Zyzygium Brongn.







  • Poaceae
    • Androscepia Brongn.
    • Anomochloa Brongn.
    • Coelorachis Brongn.
    • Garnotia Brongn.
    • Lophatherum Brongn.




    • Rhamnaceae
    • Colubrina Rich. ex Brongn.
    • Colubrina Brongn.
    • Retanilla Brongn.
    • Sageretia Brongn.
    • Scutia Comm. ex Brongn.
    • Scutia (Comm. ex DC.) Brongn.
    • Soulangia Brongn.
    • Trichocephalus Brongn.
    • Willemetia Brongn.



  • Rubiaceae
    • Bikkiopsis Brongn. & Gris
    • Grisia Brongn.




The standard author abbreviation Brongn. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brummitt, R. K.; C. E. Powell (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-085-4. 

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

The list of genera named by Brongniart is from the International Plant Names Index, a collaborative effort among The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium.