Joseph Martin (gardener)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Martin was an Enlightenment
gardener-botanist and plant collector who worked at the Jardin du Roi in Paris. He was sent on collecting expeditions to the Ile de France
, Madagascar
, Cape
and Caribbean
.
, who recommended an inventory of plants, both native and exotic, in each colony, and the development of a reciprocal plant exchange system – all under the control of the garden in Paris. Part of this program was the sending of outstanding horticulturists and botanists (élève-botanists and élève-jardiniers) on voyages of scientific exploration.
, Cayenne
(French Guiana
) and Antilles
gardens and was given extensive instructions by Thouin ('Memoire sur le transport des vegetaux par mer et par terre’) on how to collect and transport his botanical collections. This first mission was to the Ile de France, Joseph Martin sailing from Le Havre on 5 May 1788 in the Stanislas arriving on 26 July. At the Jardin du Roi, Pamplemousses
he was hosted and trained by Director Jean-Nicolas Céré
from July 1788 to March 1789. He returned to France on 31 July 1789 having successfully introduced plants to Cayenne (French Guiana), Martinique and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and brought herbarium material collected in Africa, South America and the West Indies for J.B. de Lamarck. He also found time to botanise on Madagascar and the Cape. Martin completed his brief by transporting spice plants to Port-au-Prince, and also returning plants to Thouin at the Jardin du Roi.
Martin collected herbarium specimens in France, Southern Africa, the Madagascan region, Mauritius, Martinique, and French Guiana. They are housed in Paris, Geneva, Vienna and British Museum.
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
gardener-botanist and plant collector who worked at the Jardin du Roi in Paris. He was sent on collecting expeditions to the Ile de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Cape
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.
Gardener-botanists in the Enlightenment
During the Enlightenment both France and England organised elaborate programs of plant introduction to explore the potential of plants not only as food for their colonies but as botanical novelties of all kinds. In Paris the project planning was placed in the hands of the Head Gardener of the Jardin du Roi, André ThouinAndré Thouin
André Thouin was a French botanist who was born in Paris. He studied botany under Bernard de Jussieu . In 1793 Thouin attained the chair of horticulture at Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Thouin was a good friend of U.S...
, who recommended an inventory of plants, both native and exotic, in each colony, and the development of a reciprocal plant exchange system – all under the control of the garden in Paris. Part of this program was the sending of outstanding horticulturists and botanists (élève-botanists and élève-jardiniers) on voyages of scientific exploration.
Collecting in Mauritius
In 1788 Martin was selected by Thouin as the first outstanding gardener to collect plant specimens for the Jardin du Roi in Madagascar and the Caribbean. The mission (1788-1789) was to the Ile de France (Mauritius) , taking European plants for cultivation, with instructions to collect useful indigenous and cultivated plants from the Mascarenes and take them to French colonies in the West Indies for introduction as new crops. He was to send spice and other plants to acclimatize in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Cayenne
Cayenne
Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "Ferit Aurum Industria" which means "Work brings wealth"...
(French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
) and Antilles
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
gardens and was given extensive instructions by Thouin ('Memoire sur le transport des vegetaux par mer et par terre’) on how to collect and transport his botanical collections. This first mission was to the Ile de France, Joseph Martin sailing from Le Havre on 5 May 1788 in the Stanislas arriving on 26 July. At the Jardin du Roi, Pamplemousses
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden
The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden , commonly known as the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, is a popular tourist attraction near Port Louis, Mauritius, and the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere...
he was hosted and trained by Director Jean-Nicolas Céré
Jean-Nicolas Céré
Jean-Nicolas Céré was a French botanist and agronomist born on the Indian Ocean Ile de France but educated in Brittany and Paris. On the Ile de France he was befriended by Pierre Poivre , administrator of the Ile de France and Ile Bourbon , who he assisted in the cultivation of spices...
from July 1788 to March 1789. He returned to France on 31 July 1789 having successfully introduced plants to Cayenne (French Guiana), Martinique and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and brought herbarium material collected in Africa, South America and the West Indies for J.B. de Lamarck. He also found time to botanise on Madagascar and the Cape. Martin completed his brief by transporting spice plants to Port-au-Prince, and also returning plants to Thouin at the Jardin du Roi.
Directorship in French Guiana
In 1790 he was appointed Director of the cultivation of spice plants in the acclimatisation garden at Cayenne in present-day French Guiana. He was then sent out again to South America, to oversee the cultivation of spice crops. Then, when he returned to France during the Napoleonic Wars in May 1803, his ship, a French ship of war L'Union was captured by two British privateers. Martin was imprisoned, the ship and contents subsequently being sold for prize money. Although he was later repatriated to France, a collection of his herbarium plants was auctioned in England. Material purchased by A.B. Lambert was subsequently acquired by the British Museum in 1842 during the auction of Lambert's own herbarium. Further material of Martin's was acquired by the British Museum along with the herbarium of E. Rudge in 1847.Martin collected herbarium specimens in France, Southern Africa, the Madagascan region, Mauritius, Martinique, and French Guiana. They are housed in Paris, Geneva, Vienna and British Museum.
See also
- List of gardener-botanist explorers of the Enlightenment
- European and American voyages of scientific explorationEuropean and American voyages of scientific explorationThe era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment...
Further reading
- Chaudhri, M.N., Vegter, H.I. & de Bary, H.A., Index Herb. Coll. I-L: 406 (1972)
- Dorr, L.J. Pl. Collectors Madagasc. Comoro Is.: 298 (1997)
- Stafleu, F.A. & Cowan, R.S., Taxon. Lit. ed. 2, 2: 735 (1979)
- Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. M: 507 (1976)
- Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. N-R: 795 (1983)