Species Senebiera coronopus

For Jean Senebier (1742–1809), Swiss botanist, bibliographer, linguist, clergyman, physiologist, librarian of the city of Genève, and voluminous writer on plant physiology, best remembered for his account of the influence of light on vegetation. He conducted and published experiments in the 1780s and 1790s, summarised in Physiologie Végétale (1800), showing that plants ‘fix’ carbon dioxide. He largely explained how photosynthesis works, and in particular showed that its efficacy is dependent on the intensity and duration of sunlight, and is confined to the above-ground green parts. He was an active member of the Society of Arts, and the Society of Physics and Natural Sciences.