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Leschenault de la Tour was chief botanist on Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia between 1800 and 1803. He collected a great many new specimens in 1801 and 1802, but in April 1803 he was so ill that he had to be put ashore at Timor. Forced to spent the next three years on Java he used the time to make the first thorough botanical investigation of the island, which had not previously been visited by naturalists except briefly by Carl Peter Thunberg. He arrived back in France in July 1807 with a large collection of plants and birds.
Leschenault's Javanese birds were described by Georges Cuvier and Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, and he also made his skins and notes available to Coenraad Jacob TemminckCoenraad Jacob Temminck ( March 31, 1778 January 30, 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist. Temminck was the first director of the National Natural History Museum at Leiden from 1820 until his death. His Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systematique. His plant collection resulted in him being granted a pension by the French government.
In May 1816 Leschenault travelled to IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. to collect plants and establish a botanical gardenUnited States Botanic Garden Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants both for scientific purposes and for the enjoyment and education of visitors. Research The scientific work done at botanical gardens includes studies of how to adapt exotic plant at PondicherryPondicherry ( in Hindi), currently undergoing a name change to Puduchery is a union territory in the south of India. Formerly a French colony, it came under the rule of the Indian Government in 1954 and was organized as a union territory in 1963. It consi. He was given permission by the British to travel through MadrasState Seal Capital Chennai Language Tamil Governor Surjith Singh Barnala Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa Area 130, 058sq. km Population Total Density 62,110,839 ( 2001) 478/km² Literacy rate : Total Male Female 73. 55% Tamil Nadu ( , "Land of the Tamils") i, BengalFor the breed of cat, see Bengal cat; for the tiger, see Bengal Tiger. Bengal Banga Bangla Bangadesh or Bangladesh in Bengali) comprises a region in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent, today divided between the independent country of Bangladesh and and Ceylon. He sent many of the plants and seeds he discovered to the French island of RéunionReunion is an overseas departement departement d'outre-mer or DOM of France, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. As the other DOMs, Reunion is also a region of France and an integral part of the Republic. La Reunion Region Reunion Number 974 to be cultivated. These included two varieties of sugar cane and six varieties of cotton. He returned to France in 1822 and was awarded the Legion d'Honneur.
Less than a year after his return Leschenault travelled to South America, visiting Brazil, Dutch Guiana and French Guiana, and introducing tea bushes to Cayenne, the capital of the French colony. He was forced to return home after only eighteen months due to ill health.
A number of birds were named for Leschenault, including Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii, White-crowned Forktail Enicurus leschenaulti and Sirkeer Malkoha Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii.