Charles Plumier (1646-1704)
Charles Plumier (1646 – 1704), was a famous Franciscan monk, vegetarian and botanist, who over the course of his lifetime created 31 manuscripts which documented over 4,300 plants, and 1,200 animals including birds, fish, crabs and mussels. Noted discoveries include the Begonia, Fuchsia, Lobelia, Magnolia, and Plumeria (Apocynaceae, Frangipani).
Charles Plumier (1646 – 1704), was a famous Franciscan monk, vegetarian and botanist, who over the course of his lifetime created 31 manuscripts which documented over 4,300 plants, and 1,200 animals including birds, fish, crabs and mussels. Noted discoveries include the Begonia, Fuchsia, Lobelia, Magnolia, and Plumeria (Apocynaceae, Frangipani).
Charles Plumier was best known for his three expeditions to the Caribbean in the 1690s, and his work in documenting the art of woodturning.
Born April 20th, 1646 in the city of Marseilles, France, during the reign of Louis XIV who was just 8 years old, it was a time known as the Fronde, where nobles openly rebelled against a young Louis XIV. Later as Louis XIV came into true power, he was known for moving the kings court to Versailles, where he was known as the absolute monarch.
At the age of 16, Charles received his holy orders at the Franciscan order of the Minims. He studied mathematics, physics and physical instruments in Toulouse. He was skilled as a draftsman, painter and wood turner.
Later in Rome, studying at the French monastery of Trinità dei Monti at Rome, it was here that Charles received formal training in the science of botany. Under the guidance of Father Philipp Sergeant and later on by Franz v. Onuphriis and Cistercian botanist, Paolo Boccone.
On returning to France, Charles Plumier studied with the famous French Botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. Charles accompanied Tournefort on botanical expeditions and he later went on to explore the coasts of Provence and Languedoc.
One major priority of the time for botanists was to search for cinchona bark which contained a chemical later to be known as Quinine (antipyretic medicine) for dealing with the deadly illness of Malaria. The English also had been making successful expeditions with noted botanists like James Sloane. So Tournefort, a member of the Royal Academy, with close ties to the Kings Court urged the French government to start a series of expeditions.
In 1689, the Marseille Intendant of the Galleys, Josephe Donat Surian a physician was given the task to find a botanist to accompany him to the French Antilles (Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti in 1689 and 1690). Surian choose Charles Plumier, both an excellent botanist and engraver, the two split their duties on the voyage as Surian focused on the medicinal properties of the plants while Plumier documented and classified the physical aspects of the plants. During this journey they became shipwrecked, and Plumier lost his herbarium containing all his seeds, pressed flowers, and dissected portions of animals. However, Plumier had sent his drawings along with Surians herbarium to France on another boat.
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| illustration by Charles Plumier |
At the end of the eighteen months journey, the two men quarreled and Plumier published his results separately on his return to France. Surian died in 1691. It is interesting to note that Plumier later named a genus “Suriana” in honor of Surian.
As their first journey had been successful, Charles Plumier was appointed BOTANISTE DU ROI (Royal Botanist) by Louis XIV in 1693, and given the support for a second voyage to the French Antilles. Plumier also published his first work entitled "Description des plantes de l'Amérique" (Paris, 1693); it contained 108 plates, half of which represented ferns.
On his second voyage in 1693, Plumier was accompanied by Jean-Baptiste Labat, a Dominican missionary. Plumier stationed at the western part of the Isle of Santo Domingo, then known as a profitable region for coffee. Plumier spent six months gathering over 924 new species of plants of which 100 new genera were discovered.
From his observations in Martinique, Plumier proved that the cochineal (red scale) belongs to the animal kingdom and should be classified as an insect. He published these findings in the "Journal des savants" in 1694, and in the "Memoires de Trevoux" in September, 1703. Cochineal, monopolized by the Spaniards was used to create an intense scarlet dye, supporting textile trades in the European economy.
On his third voyage, in 1695, Plumier visited Guadeloupe and the foothills of Santo Domingo, as well as Martinique. It was here that he discovered the Fuschia as well as many ferns. He also went to the neighboring coast of the main-land, where he made many valuable collections. He went on to publish these findings in 1703, in a book called
"Nova plantarum Americanarum genera" (it contained 40 plates).
In 1701, Plumier published his "L’Art du Tourner", the first manuscript to explain in detail the technology of turning (modern lathe). This work was extremely important, since turning was considered both a highly competitive and secretive art. Plumier demonstrated great social prowess in his ability to get the turning masters of the time to confide in him for this project.
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Plumeria rubra L. |
In 1704, when about to start on his fourth journey, intending to visit the home of the true cinchona tree in Peru, he was taken ill with pleurisy. Charles Plumier died November 20th, 1704 at the age of 58, on the Isle of Gadis in the city of Puerto de Santa Maria, near Cadiz, Spain. He left a work in French and Latin ready to be printed entitled "Traité des fougères de l'Amérique" (Paris, 1705), which contained 172 plates.
Plumier used the names of other famous doctors and botanists to name his plants.
* "Fuchsia triphylla flore coccinea" in honor of the famous German botanist and physician Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566).
* "Begonia" in honor of the commander of the Port of Marseille, called Begon.
* “Magniolia will grandiflora” , in the honor of Pierre Magnol (1637 - 1715), director of the Botanical garden of Montpellier, and creator of the botanical concept of "family";
* “Lobelia, in honor of Mathias Obel (Lobel or Lobelius 1538 - 1616), botanist.
Charles Plumier never named a plant after himself, instead the genus name “Plumeria”, was given by French Botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort and Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, the Father of Botany to honor Charles Plumier contribution in the area of botany.
Several hundred years ago a Frenchman by the name of Charles Plumier
became a botanist.Below is the legend about how this came about.
Plumier decided he would like to travel the world and get rich. A fortune
teller told him: 'Search for a tree that grows near churches and graveyards;
its blossoms are the color of the new moon; its fragrance will overpower
your soul; if you uproot it, the leaves and flowers continue to grow.
When you find it you shall be rich.'
Plumier traveled far and wide until at last he reached the West Indies.
He went to an old woman known for her wisdom and described the tree
that the fortune-teller had told him about. 'Do you know where such
a tree is found?" he asked the wise woman. The old woman told him
that she did indeed know of such a tree.
You must go to the church near here, at midnight, on a full-moon night.
There you will see a tree spreading its branches along the wall.
Shake the branches and you will soon see riches beyond imagining.
Plumier did as he was told. He found a small, lovely tree and
shook it. Blossoms fell all around him, glistening like golden coins.
The fragrance did overcome his soul, and he suddenly realized what
real riches were: the calm beauty of the night, the sweet scent of the
flowers, the peace of the churchyard. He stopped looking for material
wealth and instead continued to look for wealth in nature,
discovering many plants. The family of tree that he found was named
'plumeria' after him.
(from Hidden Stories in Plants), by Anne Pellowski,
Resources:
http://www.fuchsias-in-focus.co.uk/charles_plumier.htm
http://www.famousamericans.net/charlesplumier/
http://www.eurofuchsia.org/engels/en96-29.htm
http://www.jayfour.freeserve.co.uk/mdfs/hist_species.html
http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/hort/travel.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/dmna/magnolia.html
http://www.turnersco.com/history.htm
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:_hvQYETWy-MJ:www.nybg.org/bsci/fga/Symposium2000/howard.htm+charles+plumier&hl=en http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08718a.htm
http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Cochineal/
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