Biography

Austrian court gardener and plant collector. Franz Boos was born into a family of gardeners, his father being the head gardener at Rastatt in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Boos began his own gardening career in 1771 in the service of Prince Leopold of Dietrichstein, at Seelowitz, Moravia. In 1776 he moved to Vienna, working in the Imperial Gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. Six years later Boos was chosen to join an expedition at the behest of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II with the object of collecting plants and animals from tropical America. The plants were intended to replace many lost at Schönbrunn in 1780 when the glasshouse heating failed and tender living specimens froze, while exotic animals were desired for the courtyard's menagerie. The party, led by botanist Franz Maerter and including another Schönbrunn gardener, Franz Bredemeyer, arrived in Philadelphia in 1783, continuing down the east coast of the United States to Florida. In 1784 Boos accompanied Maerter to the Bahamas and other islands before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, towards the end of the year. He sent off his collections, mainly of live plants, in spring 1785 and returned himself to Vienna via Holland later that year. He then spent three years exploring South Africa (assigned to the task by Nicolas Jacquin, director of the Schönbrunn gardens), collecting thousands of herbarium specimens as well as bringing back to Vienna 12 living mammals and 250 birds. After his return he took over Jacquin's role as director of the Imperial Gardens and in 1816 published a catalogue of Schönbrunn's plants with his son, Joseph Boos. He retired in 1827.

Sources:
H. Lindorf, 2004, "Notices on the Austrian Expedition in a Venezuelan Document dated 1787 and Comments on Botanical Names linked to the Collectors", Acta Botánica Venezuelica, 27(1): 57-64
Wikipedia, Franz Boos:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Boos.

Biography

Austrian court gardener and plant collector. Franz Boos was born into a family of gardeners, his father being the head gardener at Rastatt in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Boos began his own gardening career in 1771 in the service of Prince Leopold of Dietrichstein, at Seelowitz, Moravia. In 1776 he moved to Vienna, working in the Imperial Gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. Six years later Boos was chosen to join an expedition at the behest of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II with the object of collecting plants and animals from tropical America. The plants were intended to replace many lost at Schönbrunn in 1780 when the glasshouse heating failed and tender living specimens froze, while exotic animals were desired for the courtyard's menagerie. The party, led by botanist Franz Maerter and including another Schönbrunn gardener, Franz Bredemeyer, arrived in Philadelphia in 1783, continuing down the east coast of the United States to Florida. In 1784 Boos accompanied Maerter to the Bahamas and other islands before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, towards the end of the year. He sent off his collections, mainly of live plants, in spring 1785 and returned himself to Vienna via Holland later that year. He then spent three years exploring South Africa (assigned to the task by Nicolas Jacquin, director of the Schönbrunn gardens), collecting thousands of herbarium specimens as well as bringing back to Vienna 12 living mammals and 250 birds. After his return he took over Jacquin's role as director of the Imperial Gardens and in 1816 published a catalogue of Schönbrunn's plants with his son, Joseph Boos. He retired in 1827.

Sources:
H. Lindorf, 2004, "Notices on the Austrian Expedition in a Venezuelan Document dated 1787 and Comments on Botanical Names linked to the Collectors", Acta Botánica Venezuelica, 27(1): 57-64
Wikipedia, Franz Boos:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Boos.

Biography

Austrian court gardener and plant collector. Franz Boos was born into a family of gardeners, his father being the head gardener at Rastatt in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Boos began his own gardening career in 1771 in the service of Prince Leopold of Dietrichstein, at Seelowitz, Moravia. In 1776 he moved to Vienna, working in the Imperial Gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. Six years later Boos was chosen to join an expedition at the behest of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II with the object of collecting plants and animals from tropical America. The plants were intended to replace many lost at Schönbrunn in 1780 when the glasshouse heating failed and tender living specimens froze, while exotic animals were desired for the courtyard's menagerie. The party, led by botanist Franz Maerter and including another Schönbrunn gardener, Franz Bredemeyer, arrived in Philadelphia in 1783, continuing down the east coast of the United States to Florida. In 1784 Boos accompanied Maerter to the Bahamas and other islands before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, towards the end of the year. He sent off his collections, mainly of live plants, in spring 1785 and returned himself to Vienna via Holland later that year. He then spent three years exploring South Africa (assigned to the task by Nicolas Jacquin, director of the Schönbrunn gardens), collecting thousands of herbarium specimens as well as bringing back to Vienna 12 living mammals and 250 birds. After his return he took over Jacquin's role as director of the Imperial Gardens and in 1816 published a catalogue of Schönbrunn's plants with his son, Joseph Boos. He retired in 1827.

Sources:
H. Lindorf, 2004, "Notices on the Austrian Expedition in a Venezuelan Document dated 1787 and Comments on Botanical Names linked to the Collectors", Acta Botánica Venezuelica, 27(1): 57-64
Wikipedia, Franz Boos:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Boos.