Ambroise Verschaffelt

Ambroise Colette Alexandre Verschaffelt (11 December 1825 – 16 May 1886) was a distinguished Belgian horticulturist and author. His grandfather Pierre-Antoine (1964-1844) was amongst the founders of the "Floralies gantoises" in 1808. His father Alexandre (1801-1850) was a major horticulturist of his city. The Verschaffelts were a family of Belgian nurserymen specializing a.o. in camellia, azalea, palmtrees. They introduced many new species from abroad - in particular from South America - collected for them by "plant hunters". They published the Nouvelle Iconographie des Camellias (1848-1860) : it continues Lorenzo Berlèse’s work Iconographie du genre Camellia. In 1854, Ambroise took over from Charles Lemaire "Le Jardin Fleuriste" which became "L'Illustration Horticole" in 1858. Ambroise sold his business to Jean Linden (1817-1899) in 1869, together with "L'Illustration Horticole". He then retired but continued to be active on the botanical scene an acted at different occasions as a counselor to king Léopld II for his famous hothouses of Laeken. Ambroise was vice-president of the Royal Society for Agriculture and Botany of Gent; he obtained numerous medals and prizes in horticultural exhibitions in his own country as well as in the United Kingdom (Cheltenham 1853, London 1861), Russia (St.-Petersburg 1869) and other countries.

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