“M” is for Michaux, André (1746-1802) and François-André (1770-1855). Botanists. André Michaux was born at Satory, France. In 1785 he was commissioned as royal botanist with the mission of finding useful plants for France in America. He arrived in Charleston in 1786 and the city became his base of operations as he ranged over North America from Florida to northern Canada. He was the first to describe the Oconee bell, the big leaf magnolia, and the Carolina willow. He established an 111-acre Garden in Charleston where he worked to acclimate foreign plants, mostly Asian, in America. François-André Michaux, born in France, accompanied his father on many of his early explorations. He returned to Charleston in 1801, arranged the liquidation of his father’s botanical garden and transferred the land and remaining plants to the Agricultural Society of South Carolina.
“M” is for Michaux, André (1746-1802) and François-André (1770-1855)
