DISCOVERED BY THE FIRST WOMAN TO SAIL AROUND THE WORLD
The history goes back to the time when brave sailors explored the still unknown world. Nobody can really imagine what a typical Mediterranean village would look like without the impressive bougainvillea and their unique, intense colors. They are simply part of the landscape and the question of where this unique plant came from does not even arise.
The versatility and beauty of bougainvillea combined with the warm climate have made it one of the most popular ornamental plants in the region and you may be surprised to learn that they’re not native to the Mediterranean. The bougainvillea is native to South America and was discovered in 1767 by botanist Dr. Philibert Commerson on an expedition of the French naval admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville.
Bougainvillea belongs to the genus of the four o’clock family Nyctaginaceae and is in flower throughout most of the year in warmer climates. The inconspicuous flowers that consist of three small cream-colored spots are surrounded by brightly coloured papery petals, mostly magenta, red, white and sometimes orange. Bougainvillea thrives in hot and sunny conditions.
It needs at least five hours of direct sunlight every day, because the more sun the plant receives, the more colorful the petals. It also likes shelter from the wind and plenty of water. It should never dry out, otherwise it will lose its leaves.
How everything began…
In 1766 Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville received from the French government under King Louis XV the order to lead the first French expedition to sail around the world. On Monday, December 15, 1766, Bougainville set sail on the frigate Boudeuse accompanied later by the store ship Étoile, from Nantes.
On his circumnavigation he was accompanied by the french botanist and naturalist Dr. Philibert Commerson whose task was to catalog all newly discovered animal and plant species en route. Commerson also brought his assistant, the 26 year old, presumably secret lover, Jeanne Baret, on board who was an expert botanist. However, she had to disguise herself as a man, as women were forbidden on ships at the time. It is assumed that Bougainville was the only one on board who knew about it.
They collected several thousand samples on their journey and Commerson named one of the newly discovered plants in honor of Louis Antoine de Bougainville. Although Commerson was the first to describe this plant in the scientific literature and was credited with its discovery, opinions are divided here.
It was supposedly Jeanne Baret who saw it growing in the hills near Rio de Janeiro and carried it back on board. When they arrived at Tahiti, Baret was finally exposed as a woman by the inhabitants. She had to hide until she and Commerson separated from the expedition and disembarked prematurely in Mauritius in December 1768.
They stayed on Mauritius for almost five years to explore the island more closely, and when her companion fell ill, Baret independently collected and determined the flora in Mauritius. Commerson died in March 1773 at the age of 45 and Baret returned to Paris. She incorporated the collection made on the trip into the French collection already built up by Commerson.
This was a great contribution to botany, a treasure trove of around 6,000 plant species, which are exhibited today in the Muséum nationale d’histoire naturelle in Paris. More than 70 plants, insects and mollusks have been named after Commerson and are called commersonii.
Jeanne Baret’s achievement was not recognized until 2012, when Eric. J. Tepe, Glynis Ridley and Lynn Bohs discovered a new shade plant and named it solanum baretiae in her honor. She is probably the first woman to have sailed around the world.
Admiral Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, explored areas of the South Pacific as leader of the French naval force before he died in August 1811 at age 81 in Paris. He discovered French Polynesia and gave his name to Bougainville Island, the most remote of Papua New Guinea’s 19 provinces in the Pacific Ocean.
Geographically, it belongs to the Solomon Islands archipelago and together with the neighboring island of Buka and some smaller islands, forms the only autonomous region of Papua New Guinea (autonomous region of Bougainville).
