Carolus Clusius

Carolus Clusius or Charles de L'Écluse (Arras, February 18, 1525 - Leiden, April 4, 1609) was a doctor, mycologist and Flemish botanist, perhaps the most influential scientist and horticulturist of the XVI century.

Biography

He was the creator of one of the first botanical gardens in Europe in Leiden and is considered one of the founders of horticulture. He was also one of the first to make truly scientific descriptions of plants. ^{[ citation needed ]}

He studied in Ghent until he went to the University of Law in Leuven. In 1548 he left for Marburg and in 1549 for Wittenburg to follow the teachings of Melanchthon. Following his advice, he abandons law to study Medicine and Botany. In 1551 he went to Montpellier to study botany under the direction of Guillaume Rondelet. There she became his secretary and lived three years in his house.

In 1557, he translated Rembert Dodoens' herbarium into French: Histoire des plantes.

After finishing his studies, he held different positions. In 1573 Emperor Maximilian II of Habsburg appointed him court physician and head of the imperial garden. Thanks to this protection, he was able to travel throughout Europe, making numerous observations and collecting specimens of different plants, some of distant origins such as the tulip (which he introduced to Holland) or the potato. The death of his protector forced him to leave Vienna after having spent 14 years there.

In 1576, he published a flora of Spain (Rariorum aliquot stirpium per Hispanias observatarum historia) followed in 1583 by the description of the plants of Austria and neighboring regions (Rariorum aliquot stirpium, per Pannoniam, Austriam, & vicinas quasdam provinces observatarum historia).

In 1587, he founded a botanical garden (hortus botanicus), distinct from the "medicinal garden" (hortus medicus), at the University of Leiden. There he cultivated rare plants from southern Europe, Spain, Portugal and Hungary. At this same university he obtained the position of professor of botany in 1593, which he held until his death.

In 1601 he published an important botanical treatise, Rariorum plantarum historia, illustrated by more than a thousand engravings and where he tried to group the species by their affinity. His observations are remarkably accurate. Clusius was undoubtedly the first botanist to make scientific descriptions. He was also the first to describe numerous species such as jasmine, chestnut or aralias. He also became interested in mushrooms.

In 1605 he published Exoticorum libri decem where he tried to describe all the exotic species, animals or plants, that he could obtain. Living in Leiden, he was able to obtain specimens from ships arriving in Holland. His book describes numerous new species such as: the cassowary (genus Casuarius), the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus), the quinaquina (Deroptyus accipitrinus), the garrulo trichoglossus (Lorius garrulus), the red ibis (Eudocimus ruber) and many others. He also described the great auk (Pinginus impennis) from a specimen he received in 1604 along with other species from Henrik Højer, who explored the Faroe Islands. Both works are still frequently consulted today. His 1576 work on Spanish flora is one of the first known books on Spanish Flora. He also contributed to Abraham Ortelius's map of Spain. Charles de L'Ecluse he also translated several contemporary works of Natural Sciences.

Other works

• 1557. Rariorum ali stirpium per Hispanias observatarum history Clus. Antwerp. 1557
• 1561. Antidotarium sive of exact comndorum miscendorumque drugrum ratione ll. III... nunc ex Ital. sermone Latini facti (Antwerpen. Ex officina Plantiniana)
• 1570. Galliae Narbonensis ora marittima (Antwerpen. Abraham Ortelius)
• 1571. Hispania nova descriptio (Antwerpen. Abraham Ortelius).
• 1582. Aliquot notae in Garciae Aromatum historiam] (Antwerpen. Ex officina Plantiniana)
• 1583. Rariorum ali stirpium, per Pannoniam, Austriam, & vicinas quasdam provinces observatarum historia, IV libris expressa (Antwerpen. Ex officina Plantiniana)
• 1583. Stirpium nomenclator Pannonicus (Nemetvyawarini: Joannes Manlius)
• 1601. Rariorum plantarum history / Fungorum in Pannoniis observatorum brevis history. Exoticorum libri decem: quibus animalium, plantarum, aromatum, aliorumque pilgrimrum fructuum historiæ discribuntur (Antwerpen. Ex officina Plantiniana apud Ioannem Moretum) Clus. Antwerp
• 1605. Exoticorum libri decem: quibus animalium, plantarum, aromatum, aliorumque peregrin. fructuum historiae describuntur / item Pt. Bellonii Observations, eodem C.C. interpreter (Leiden: Ex officina Plantiniana). Clus. Antwerp
• 1611. Curae posterior, seu plurimarum non antè cognitarum, aut descriptarum stirpium, pilgrimrumque aliquot animalium novae descriptiones: quibus & omnia ipsius opera, aliáque ab eo versa augentur, aut illustrantur: accessit seorsim Everardi Vorstii... ob eius Caroldem (Leiden & Antwerpen). Ex officina Plantiniana
• 1619. Summi Galliae Belgicae corographica descriptio posthumaed. Joachim Morsius (Leiden: Jac. Marcus)
• 1630. Appendix cultri plantarum exoticarum necessaria. in Herbarium Horstianum (Marburg)

Honors

Eponyms

The botanist Charles Plumier (1646-1704) dedicated the genus Clusia (L.) Plum. of the Clusiaceae family to him.

Species

• (Amaryllidaceae) Amaryllis clusiana Ker Gawl. ex Schult. 1817
• (Amaryllidaceae) Galanthus clusii Fisch. ex Steud. 1840
• (Gentianaceae) Gentiana clusii E.P.Perrier " Songeon 1843
• (Primulaceae) Primula clusiana Wiest ex Nyman 1881
• (Rosaceae) Potentilla clusiana Jacq. 1774
• (Rosaceae) Rubus clusii Borbás 1885
• (Paeoniaceae) Paeonia clusii Stern " Stearn 1940
• (Asteraceae) Achillea clusiana Tausch 1821
• (Asteraceae) Doronicum clusii (All.) Tausch 1980
• (Liliaceae) Tulip clusiana Sheph. ex Schult.f. 1830
• (Primulaceae) Auricula-ursi clusiana (Tausch) Soják 1840
• (Rosaceae) Potentilla clusiana Geners. 1822
• (Tiliaceae) Tilia clusiana J.Wagner 1926

• The abbreviation «Clus.» is used to indicate Carolus Clusius as an authority in the description and scientific classification of vegetables.