Jean-Baptiste Payer (1818–1860), prolific botanist and enlightened French citizen: his legacy in flower development and a need for a new, global compendium

Abstract

ABSTRACT Jean-Baptiste Payer was among the pioneer botanists who promoted ontogeny as a clue to understanding the morphological nature and affinities of floral parts. He can be rightly seen as the father of floral developmental studies. In his magnus opus, Traité d’organogénie comparée de la fleur, he compared developmental stages across 333 species from 130 families sensu APGIV to explain phenomena such as the integration of the receptacle in the flower, the nature of the perianth, congenital fusion, shifts in stamen number, and the homology of carpels. His work is breathtaking not only in its scale and beauty, but also in providing a solid scientific basis for understanding the processes involved in the differentiation of flowers. Despite being pre-Darwinian, his research demonstrates the potential for evolutionary changes in flowers, in the context of the understanding of angiosperm classification at that time. Many of Payer’s ideas are still up-to-date and his observations are of great value in contemporary studies. In addition to botany, Payer had a lightning career in politics starting from the 1848 revolution. First a rioter, he then served two terms in the Constituent Assembly, before going back to science in 1852. In poor health, he died at the age of 42. This article aims at celebrating Payer as a scientist and a politician. We highlight a need for a new, global (encompassing at least all angiosperm orders) compendium on flower development that will facilitate analyses of evolutionary transitions of ontogenetic pathways. An outline of this research program is provided.