# Benjamin Balansa

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{{Short description|French botanist}}
thumb|Benjamin Balansa
'''Gaspard Joseph Benedict Balansa''', also known as '''Benjamin Balansa '''or '''Benedict Balansa''' (25 March 1825 – 2 November 1891), was a French [botanist](/source/botanist).

Born in [Narbonne](/source/Narbonne) in 1825, Balansa made numerous collecting trips for the [Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle](/source/Mus%C3%A9um_national_d'Histoire_naturelle) in Paris which holds most of his [plant specimens](/source/Herbarium). Others are in [Muséum de Toulouse](/source/Mus%C3%A9um_de_Toulouse).

His first journey, from 1847 to 1848, was to [Algiers](/source/Algiers) and [Mostaganem](/source/Mostaganem) in Algeria.

From 1850 to 1853, Balansa returned to Algeria, collecting plants again in Mostaganem and later in [Oran](/source/Oran), [Muaskar](/source/Muaskar), the Northern [Sahara](/source/Sahara), [Biskra](/source/Biskra_Province) and [Batna](/source/Batna_Province).

From 1854 to 1855 he undertook his first trip to Asia travelling first to [Smyrna](/source/Smyrna) and the surrounding regions in  April and May, 1854. From March until October 1855 he lived in [Mersin](/source/Mersin) and the Taurus Mountains of [Cilicia](/source/Cilicia). The following year, he travelled from June until September 1856 from [Tarsus](/source/Tarsus%2C_Mersin) to [Kayseri](/source/Kayseri) in Cappadocia. In 1857 he settled with his family in Smyrna. From May until July 1857 he explored [Uşak](/source/U%C5%9Fak) and the surrounding area and until 1865 he undertook tours to [Phrygia](/source/Phrygia) and [Cilicia](/source/Cilicia). In 1866, he made a trip to [Lazistan](/source/Lazistan) and the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), where he collected from June to August in the area of [Trabzon](/source/Trabzon) and [Rize](/source/Rize). In autumn 1866 he returned to France.

A year later, in 1867 he collected in Morocco in the area of [Mogador](/source/Mogador), the [Atlas Mountains](/source/Atlas_Mountains) and [Marrakesh](/source/Marrakesh).

From 1868 to 1872 Balansa stayed overseas in [New Caledonia](/source/New_Caledonia) and the [Loyalty Islands](/source/Loyalty_Islands). During this time he was Director of the Jardin d'Acclimatation in [Nouméa](/source/Noum%C3%A9a). From 1873 to 1877, he made his first trip to Paraguay, followed by a second from 1878 to 1884. In the years from 1885 to 1889, he collected in [Tonkin](/source/Tonkin) and undertook a trip to the island of [Java](/source/Java). In his (1890) second stay at Balansa died in Hanoi.

Balansa edited and distributed several [exsiccata](/source/exsiccata)e and exsiccata-like specimens series, among them ''Plantes d'Algérie 1851'' and ''Plantes d'Orient 1854''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plantes d'Algérie 1851: IndExs ExsiccataID=2147200041 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=2147200041 |access-date=14 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Plantes d'Orient 1854: IndExs ExsiccataID=704003328 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=704003328 |access-date=14 January 2025}}</ref>
 
{{botanist|Balansa}}

<gallery>
Entada phaseoloides MHNT.BOT.2007.26.55.jpg|''Entada phaseoloides'' Balansa collection MHNT
Luffa aegyptiaca MHNT.BOT.2007.26.52.jpg|''Luffa aegyptiaca'' Balansa collection MHNT
Raphia farinifera MHNT.BOT.2007.26.50.jpg|''Raphia farinifera'' Balansa collection MHNT
(MHNT) Cassia fistula MHNT.bot.2007.26.54.jpg| ''Cassia fistula'' Balansa collection MHNT
Coco de mer .jpg|''Lodoicea maldivica'', Balansa collection MHNT
Adansonia digitata MHNT.BOT.2007.26.26.jpg|''Adansonia digitata'' Balansa collection MHNT
Solenanthus lanatus MHNT Balansa.jpg|''Solenanthus lanatus'' Balansa collection MHNT
</gallery>

== See also ==
* {{intitle|Balansae}} for pages named for Balansa

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Gaston Astre, 1947. ''La Vie de Benjamin Balansa, botaniste explorateur''. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Toulouse.
*[Asuman Baytop](/source/Asuman_Baytop), Michele Nicolas, 2006. ''Ondokuzuncu yüzyılda Anadolu’da bir bitki toplayıcısı: Benjamin Balansa (1825–1891). In: Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları''. Band 8, Nummer 1, 2006, S. 105–112 (Pdf).
*A. Chevalier, 1942.  L’oeuvre d’un grand botaniste colonial méconnu: Benjamin Balansa. In: ''Revue de Botanique appliquée et d’Agronomie tropicale''. Band 22, 1942, S. 241–251.
*A. Guillaumin, 1911. Histoire des explorations botaniques en Nouvelle-Calédonie et aux îles Loyalty. In: ''Annales du Musée colonial de Marseille''. 2. Folge, Band 19, 1911, S. 291–299 (online).
*Philippe Morat, 2005. Les Botanistes récolteurs en Nouvelle-Calédonie de 1774 à 2005. In: ''Adansonia''. Band 32, Nummer 2, 2010, S. 159–216 (doi:10.5252/a2010n2a1).

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balansa, Benedict}}
Category:19th-century French botanists
Category:1825 births
Category:1891 deaths
Category:People from Narbonne

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Benjamin Balansa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Balansa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Balansa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.