Richard, Archille (1794 - 1852)

He was the son of a distinguished botanist, Louis Claud Marie Richard. He was the author of a botanical text-book which passed through many editions in France and was translated into German, Dutch, Russian, and English (the last by William Macgillivray, Edinburgh, 1831). He was the author of other botanical books, and he probably was mainly responsible for the botanical results of the “Astrolabe” expedition. T'he following monographs are of interest to Australians :-

"Monographie du genre Hydrocotyle (Ann. Gen. Sc. Phys. iv), Bruxelles, 1820, 8vo;
Memoire sur la famille des Rubiacees (Mem, Soc, Hist. Nat. Par., v) Paris, ] 829, 4to,

"He is commemorated by the following plants :-

Grewia Richardiana, Hook. = G. latifolia, F.v.M.;
Erechthites Richardiana, DC. = E. hispidula, DC.;
Senecio Richardianus, DC. = Senecio.australis, Willd.

Achille completed the following work of his father, which does not, however, refer to the collections of any special expedition:

"Memoires sur les Coniferes et les Cycadees," also entitled "Commentatio botanica de Conifereis et Cycadeis" opus posthumum ab Achille Richard, folio. .. Stuttgart, Cotta, 1826 Jarge 4to, xv, 212 pp., 30 tab.

It consists of a "Premier Memoire," devoted to Conifers, pp. 1-170, and a " Seconde Memoire" devoted to Cycads, pp. 171- 212. Specially interesting to Australians are the notes on and plates of Dacrydium cupressinum (N.Z.), Phyllocladus rhomboidalis ( Tasmania), Callitris rhomboidea R. Br., C. oblonga, Rich.

The Cycad Memoir contains nothing specially dealing with Australian plants, except the “note sur I 'opinion de M. Robert Brown, relativement a la structure des fleurs femelles dans les coniferes et les Cycadees," at p. 203. No Australian Cycads are figured.

Source: Maiden, J.H. (1910) Records of the earlier French botanists as regards Australian plants. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1910. 44:123-155.