Giorgio Gallesio

Giorgio Gallesio
Born(1772-05-23)23 May 1772
Finalborgo [it], Province of Savona, Italy
Died30 November 1839(1839-11-30) (aged 67)
Firenze, Tuscany, Italy
NationalityItalian
Scientific career
FieldsBotany, plant systematics
Illustration of Canaiola grapes from Gallesio's book Pomona Italiana [it] or Treatise of fruit trees

Giorgio Gallesio (in English and French sources Georges Gallesio, 23 May 1772 – 30 November 1839[1][2][3]) was an Italian botanist and researcher of the 18th and 19th centuries, specializing in citrus.[4][5] His famous book Traité du citrus was first printed in 1811 and reprinted in 1826 due to its popularity.[6] In this work, he presented his findings that hybrids are offspring of outcross pollination and not due to grafting as previously thought.[7] He also studied the family barriers affecting species compatibility and gave a good account of the history and distribution of citrus. He was widely cited in many works of his day,[8] and also in The Citrus Industry book, by Webber, Batchelor and others.[9]

The standard author abbreviation Gallesio is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[10]

He has a further minor claim to fame as the first person to use the expression 'dominant' (in Italian, 'dominante') to refer to the hereditary transmission of characters when plants are hybridised ("Quindi la loro combinazione, non essendo naturale, riesce inconstante nei suoi effeti, e questi portano, ora l'impronta di un principio, ora di un altro, in proporzione che ve ne è uno dominante." Gallesio, Giorgio. Teoria della Riproduzione Vegetale, Pisa: Nicolo Capurro, 1816, p 79. English translation in Stubbe, Hans. History of Genetics, pp. 107–08). The term appears in a passage in which Gallesio describes the hybridisation of two strains of carnations having red and white flowers.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gallesio Baldini 1995 p. 6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gallesio Baldini 1995 p. 415 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Spreti 1930 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kostioukovitch 2010 p. 254 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference von Humboldt Kutzinski Ette 2011 p. 347 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Journal de la Société nationale dhorticulture de France 1835 p. 41 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Swingle 1943 p. 388 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stewart Brandis 1874 p. 51 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference lib.ucr.edu 2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Gallesio.