Though better known as a horticulturalist than as a botanist, Henry Correvon made considerable contributions by his numerous publications in botanical science. His death in his eighty-fifth year on May 11 leaves a notable gap among the devotees of alpine plants, whom he has done so much to encourage and assist by his own enthusiastic labours.

Born at Iverdon in 1854, Correvon was educated in this little Swiss town, and, losing his father at an early age, he was sent to learn horticultural practice first to Geneva, then to Zurich, Frankfort, Erfurt and finally to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where he received botanical as well as horticultural training. Thus well equipped, he returned to Iverdon to take charge of the horticultural establishment founded by his grandfather, which had suffered greatly from the neglect of the tenant who had carried on the undertaking. Capable and energetic, Correvon commenced to work up this family heritage, but, alas, only to see most of his improvements totally destroyed by a devastating cyclone in July 1877. The low-growing alpine plants alone survived the ravages of the storm. He transferred his energies to Geneva, where he established a nursery for alpine plants, in the cultivation of which he was so successful that he ultimately purchased in 1902 a large vineyard at Chêne-Bourg high above Geneva. Here he created the wonderful garden “La Floraire” known to all cultivators of alpine gardens. To it he had transported limestone rocks from the Salève and the Jura and granite blocks from the Alps so as to have suitable surroundings for his pet plants.

Correvon’s interest in these was not limited to those in his own garden. He was one of the originators of “La Linnea”, the alpine garden at Bourg St. Pierre, now under the management of the University of Geneva. He was also concerned in the management of the alpine garden on the Rochers de Naye above Montreux and for a time with that above Saint-Corgue. His love for these, and other efforts for the preservation of the mountain plants, made him a prime mover in the formation of the Swiss Nature Protection Society.

Alphonse de Candollo persuaded Correvon to learn English, and for some years he acted as a correspondent of the Garden. In 1886 he visited England and wrote enthusiastically about some of the gardens he saw, and spoke with admiration of the cultivation of the terrestrial orchids by various British horticulturists. This group of plants was particularly dear to him and led to his publication of a little book in 1893 on “Les Orchidées rustiques”, followed in 1899 by his “Album des Orchidées”, of which a second edition has appeared. His publications were, however, not limited to orchids. They included books on trees, ferns, flowers of fields and forests, water and marsh plants. His book on “Rock Garden and Alpine Plants”, translated from the French edition, was published in New York. His “Alpine Flora”, with its wonderfully artistic representations of the plants described, appeared in an English translation in London.

Correvon was an indefatigable worker and an excellent lecturer. Ten years ago, at the age of seventy-three years, he undertook a visit to the United States, where he gave some forty lectures and addresses in English to promote the interest in alpine gardens. He was an honorary member and correspondent of many horticultural societies and was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Geneva in 1931.

He retained his full powers of body and mind until the end, and his beloved garden at Chêne-Bourg is assured of its continuity in the hands of his son and his grandson, both trained gardeners and possessing Henry Correvon’s devotion to alpine plants.