JORDAN, ALEXIS. - Naturalist, self-taught scholar, and French botanist, b. at Lyon in 1814, d. there in 1897. He is known for his discovery that the Linnaean “species” is composed of “small species” or elementary species, called jordanons in his honour by Lotsy. This discovery, developed by De Vries, is one of the scientific achievements that has most influenced the conception of the variability of the species.
J. opposed transformism for both religious and scientific reasons. His is the expression: “religious tradition must serve the researcher as a compass” in judging the accuracy of his discoveries.
Among his works: De l'origine des diverses variétés ou espèces d'arbres fruitiers, Paris 1853; Icones ad florem Europae novo fundamento instaurandam spectantes, (in collaboration with J. Fourreau, 3 vols., there 1866-1903).