Genus Althenia
Pictures from Observations
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For Jean Althen (Hovhannes Althounian) (1709–1774), author of Mémoire sur la Culture de la Garance, an Armenian/Persian agronomist who developed the cultivation of madder in France. Although the plant had been present in the region before his arrival, it was Althen who developed its cultivation, turning it into an industry. In 1754 he arrived in Avignon where he started experimenting with the cultivation of madder. After some early teething problems cultivation started in St Chamond, then continued around Avignon in 1763. By 1772 they produced enough madder to supply factories in India. He died in poverty in 1774 as a result of poor business decisions. The industry he founded reached its climax in the 1860s with over 50 mills (CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names).