Antoine Laurent de Jussieu
Antoine Laurent de Jussieu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 12, 1748 |
| Died | September 17, 1836 (aged 88) |
| Nationality |  France |
| Known for | Classification of flowering plants |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Jardin des Plantes |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Juss. |
Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (April 12, 1748 - September 17, 1836) was a French botanist, notable as the first to propose a natural classification of flowering plants; much of his system remains in use today.
Jussieu was born in Lyon, the nephew of the botanist Bernard de Jussieu. He went to Paris to study medicine, graduating in 1770. He was professor of botany at the Jardin des Plantes from 1770 to 1826. His son Adrien-Henri also became a botanist.
In his study of flowering plants, Genera plantarum (1789), Jussieu adopted a methodology based on the use of multiple characters to define groups, an idea derived from Scottish-French naturalist Michel Adanson. This was a significant improvement over the original system of Linnaeus, who classified plants into classes and orders based on the number of stamens and pistils. Jussieu did keep Linnaeus' binomial nomenclature, resulting in a work that was far-reaching in its impact; many of the present-day plant families are still attributed to Jussieu. Morton's 1981 History of botanical science counts 76 of Jussieu's families conserved in the ICBN, versus just 11 for Linnaeus, for instance.
He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, Les Neuf Sœurs.
Works
- Jussieu, Antoine Laurent de (1789). Genera Plantarum, secundum ordines naturales disposita juxta methodum in Horto Regio Parisiensi exaratam. Paris. OCLC 315729. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
References
- Duane Isely, One hundred and one botanists (Iowa State University Press, 1994), pp. 118-120
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "De Jussieu". [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]] (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) 
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "De Jussieu". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
