Jean-Nicolas Céré

Jean-Nicolas Céré (20 August 1737 – 2 May 1810) was a French botanist and agronomist born on the Indian Ocean Isle de France (now Mauritius) but educated in Brittany and Paris.

[2] Céré became assistant to Pierre Poivre who had in 1766 been appointed Administrator of the islands of France and Bourbon administering trade the country.

Plantations of peppers, cloves, cinnamons, and nutmeg were established on the Isle de France and Bourbon, the plants then being sent to the West Indies and Cayenne.

In the garden Céré acclimatised plants and trees from America, India and China as well as European fruits and vegetables.

He also introduced an Indian species of fish, the gourami, and made observations to assist the prediction of tropical cyclones on the island.

Céré was director of the gardens at the time of a visit to the island in 1795 after the demise of the Bruni d'Entrecasteaux expedition to New Holland in search of La Pérouse.

Botanist Labillardière noted that the coco de mer palm (Lodoicea maldivica) from the island of Praslin in the Seychelles (botanically notable for its 'double' coconut, the largest seed in the world) was cultivated at the Pamplemousses gardens where it had been planted in 1769.