IN A BROAD AND ECLECTIC
field such as orchid cultivation, there are some
specialized collections that serve in the
introduction, appreciation and propagation of
species from a particular area. In December 1996,
one such outstanding collection was awarded the
rank of French National Collection by the French
Conservatory of Specialized Botanical
Collections. The recipient of the prestigious
honor is the collection of Madagascar orchids of
Marcel Lecoufle.
Born in 1913, Lecoufle is a
member of a distinguished family of orchid
growers in France. His grandfather, Henri
Vacherot, started growing orchids in 1886, in
Boissy Saint Leger, an area outside Paris.
Lecoufle began working in the firm of Vacherot
& Lecoufle in 1931 and became an associate
member in 1938. In 1947, he parted from the
family firm to start his own nursery. Shortly
after its establishment, Marcel Lecoufle
Orchidees had already expanded in cultivation to
include some nonorchidaceous exotic plants such
as bromeliads and carnivorous plants. He was
awarded an honorary membership in the American
Bromeliad Society, and authored an important book
on carnivorous plants and their cultivation. In
1959, he received fifth prize at the first
Floralies of Paris, an important horticultural
show visited by both Queen Elizabeth 1I and
President Charles de Gaulle, and won first prize
five years later.
Lecoufle's first introduction
to the fascinating orchids of Madagascar occurred
in 1931 when he attended the Colonial Exhibition
in Paris. Among the visitors was a gentleman
named Edmond Francois, who in 1937 wrote a
dissertation entitled Plantes de Madagascar
that greatly intrigued Lecoufle. Much later,
Lecoufle was invited to Madagascar and the nearby
islands of Mauritius and Reunion by his friend
Sir Raymond Hein, a resident of Mauritius, with
whom he had kept close association through long
correspondence.
On his first trip to the
islands, Lecoufle made contact with two
botanists, Dr. Pierre Peyrot and Jean Bosser of
the Scientific Office Research of Oversea
Territories, both of whom contributed
substantially to our knowledge and understanding
of the flora of Madagascar and its islands. From
Lecoufle’s close association with Bosser and
the Museum of Natural History in Paris, he has
become an associate member of the museum.
Lecoufle credits Peyrot for
giving him an appreciation of "the huge
Madagascan island with so many contrasts, areas
of showers or dryness, extreme temperatures hot
or cold, altitudes from sea level to 9,185
feet."
Lecoufle has traveled to the
big island four times -- in 1967, 1973, 1980 and
1983. A particularly memorable trip to Madagascar
was when he was invited by Dr. Maisongrosse to
conduct research not only on orchids but also on
a new and rare species of tropical pitcher plant,
Nepenthes masoalensis, which is endemic
to the Masoala massif. On this expedition not
only numerous plants of N. masoalensis
were found, hut also many species from the
orchidaceous genera Aerangis, Aeranthes,
Angraecum, Bulbophyllum, Cymbidiella, Grammangis,
Eulophia, Jumellea and Oeoniella.
The angraecoids and other
orchids of Madagascar have been gaining
substantial attention and popularity over the
last 20 years. Lecoufle's nursery was the first
orchid firm to actively import and sell plants
from Madagascar. He was able to import
successfully through close collaboration with his
supplier, Remi Andriamaharo, a former president
of the Madagascan Orchid Society. In addition to
introducing many superb species for the first
time into cultivation, Lecoufle undertook a
program of propagation to ensure against the
extinction of the plants. His propagation of Angraecum
longicalcar stands out as an example of the
paramount importance of his breeding program of
Madagascan species. This Angraecum is
notable because it boasts a spur length of 16
inches, the longest of any known orchid. A
hawk-moth pollinator with a proboscis nearly as
long as the spur must exist in the same locality
as the orchid, which is restricted to a small
area around Lake Itasy in Madagascar. The
originally small population has, through
overcollection, been depleted nearly to
extinction. Fortunately, it was saved for future
generations through the active propagation
program of Lecoufle's nursery and now this
spectacular orchid can be found in numerous
angraecoid collections in Europe, America and
elsewhere.
Lecoufle has authored several
articles on the subject of Madagascar and its
orchids in journals such as the AOS Bulletin
and The Orchid Review and has presented
numerous lectures on these orchids, including one
at the 5th World Orchid Conference in Long Beach
in 1966. An accomplished photographer for 69
years, Lecoufle has taken first-rate photographs
of both plants in their native habitat and of
flowering plants in his own collection. His
spectacular photographs of Madagascan orchids
have not only accompanied his own articles, but
have also appeared in the articles and books of
other authors. He is a strong advocate of 3D
photography and has introduced many amateur
orchid photographers to this photographic medium
through his work with both the French
Stereoscopic Society and the French Photographic
Society.
Lecoufle's current collection
of Madagascan orchids consists of more than 8,000
plants representing at least 85 species from
Madagascar and the nearby islands. Moreover,
there are 2,000 more seedlings in vitro.
Included among his collection are some hybrids
and several unusual cultivars of species, such as
a variegated Angraecum sesquipedale and a
green-lipped Angraecum eburueum. His
library contains several old and rare manuscripts
of botanical literature and art featuring
Madagascan orchids, including a hand-drawn copy
of the plates from Du Petit Thouars' Histoire
particuliere des plantes orchiddes recueillies
sur les trois iles australes d'Afrique, de
France, de Bourbon et de Madagascar
In addition to his important
work on the introduction of Madagascan species
into cultivation, Lecoufle grows numerous other
orchid species and enjoys an international
reputation as a hybridizer. Continuing with his
family's five-generation legacy in the orchid
industry, his firm is now managed by his daughter
Genevieve Bert and his granddaughter Isabelle
Bert. Marcel Lecoufle continues to give lectures
and warmly receives visitors at his greenhouses
outside of Paris. []
References
Lecoufle, Marcel.
1996-1997. Les Orchidees de Madagascar et
leur culture. Hommes &
Plantes--Revue trimestrielle du
Conservatoire Francais des Collections
Vegetales Specialisees (CCVS).
20:21-28.
Christopher N. Herndon is
a frequent contributor to Orchids magazine.
He last wrote about colorful angraecoids in the
August 1997 issue of Orchids. 11044 Red
Rock Drive, San Diego, California 92131.