Joseph Pitton de Tournefort

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort was a French botanist. He loved plants and helped scientists learn more about them.

Tournefort was born in Aix-en-Provence. He studied plants and later taught botany in Paris at the Jardin des Plantes.

He traveled to many places, like the Pyrenees and the islands of Greece. During his trips, he collected many plants with his friend, Andreas Gundelsheimer, and an artist named Claude Aubriet.

Tournefort is remembered for being the first to explain the idea of grouping plants into a genus. This helped scientists organize plants better. His book about plants, called Éléments de botanique, was very useful for other plant experts.