Franz Boos
Franz Boos (23 December 1753 in Frauenalb – 9 February 1832 in Vienna) was an Austrian gardener-botanist in the Age of Enlightenment, a voyager and collector of natural history specimens for Emperor Joseph II of Austria, who reigned from 1765 to 1790.
Franz Boos is best known for successful voyages to America, the Caribbean and South Africa during which he collected a wide range of natural history specimens for the parks and gardens, menagerie, and Cabinet of the Emperor's palace at Schönbrunn.
The knowledge gained from Austrian Boos was later combined with French horticultural and botanical expertise which lead Baudin to the forefront of scientific exploration and research as the century moved into the upheaval of Revolutionary Wars.
Boos traveled on two major scientific expeditions on behalf of Emperor Joseph II, the first was to America (1783–1785), the second to the Caribbean, Cape of South Africa and Mascarenes (1786–1788).
Following a request from the Emperor Joseph II to the botanist Nikolaus Jacquin (Director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna and the Imperial Gardens of Schönbrunn Palace) and Ignaz von Born, a voyage was commissioned in the spring of 1783 to collect specimens (including live animals) from the southeastern United States, staying in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Jersey and eastern Florida.
This had been urged by the eminent savant, Ignaz von Born who, at the Emperor’s invitation, nominated five naturalists to go on the Cobenzell, a ship owned by William Bolts.
The visit lasted from May 1786 to February 1787 during which he was often accompanied by the Scotsman Francis Masson in the Cape Swartland and semi-desert Karoo, collecting live plants, bulbs, seeds, birds, insects and more.
Many of the species were subsequently described by Jacquin with illustrations.After finishing his work with Märten and his men in North America Boos was sent to South Africa, the Mascarenes and Madagascar.
Joseph II’s intention was for them to make collections of tropical plants from Isle de France, but bad weather forced their ship to shelter at the Cape of Good Hope delaying their departure.
When Boos travelled from the Cape to Isle de France, and from there to Trieste carrying the natural history collections it was on the ship Pepita commanded by Nicolas Baudin, at that time a merchant mariner.
From Boos Baudin learned much about the transport of live plants and animals and the storage of natural history specimens, knowledge that he would later use in the scientific exploration of New Holland (Australia), and elsewhere, for Napoleon.
Boudin, coming from the East Indies has anchored in the harbour there with various animals and plants for the Emperor's menagerie at Schoenbrunn, for his gardens and for his Natural History Cabinet.
These animals and plants have been collected by order of His Majesty with the greatest care by Mr. Boos, Imperial Court Gardener, which he has sought out in the Isles of France and Bourbon, in Madagascar and at the Cape of Good Hope.
is an endemic South African bulbous plant first described in 1804 by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin from specimens sent to the Schönbrunn Palace gardens by Boos and Scholl.In 1799 a cycad was collected by Georg Scholl on the Cape, this being returned to Vienna where, in 1801, it was described and illustrated as Zamia cycadifolia by botanist Jaquin.
