Genus Laportea

For François Louis Nompar de Caumat de Laporte, Count of Castelnau (1810–1880), English-born French diplomat, naturalist, traveller, entomologist and plant collector. He led an expedition to Canada (1837–1841) and another in South America (1843–1847) exploring the Amazon basin for the Duc d’Orléans and Musêe National d’Histoire Naturelle. During 1856–1857 he came to the Cape travelling eastward to Port Elizabeth (Algoa Bay) and subsequently wrote a treatise on South African fish (1861) and a number of papers, although he lost many of his notes when his deranged servant used them to light a fire. He served as French consul in Bahia, Brazil (1848), Siam, Thailand (1848–1862) and Australia (1864–1877).