French botanist, explorer and politician (1873–1928)
Plaque of Charles-Joseph Pitard in the "Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo".
Charles-Joseph Marie Pitard, name sometimes given as Charles-Joseph Marie Pitard-Briau (30 October 1873 – 29 December 1927) was a French pharmacist and botanist.[1]
In 1899 he obtained his doctorate in natural sciences at the University of Bordeaux, later serving as a professor at the school of medicine in Tours. He conducted botanical and exploratory investigations in the Canary Islands (1904–06), Tunisia (1907–10 & 1913) and Morocco (1911–13). Many of his plant collections were sent to herbaria in Geneva and Paris.[2][3]
He was the taxonomic authority of numerous botanical taxa. About 525 names have been published. Such as Aichryson mollii Pit., Iles Canaries 189.[4]
Also named in his honour, are plants with the specific epithets of pitardii (about 27) and pitardiana (about 7).[7][8] Such as Beaumontia pitardiiTsiang,[9] and also Poa pitardianaH.Scholz.[10]
Published works
Les Iles Canaries. Flore de l'Archipel (1908) – The Canary Islands, flora of the archipelago (with Louis Proust, 1878–1959).
Contribution à l'étude de la Flore du Maroc (1931) – Contribution to the study of Moroccan flora.[2]
Pitard also made significant contributions to the "Flore générale de L'Indo-Chine" (General flora of Indochina).[11]