Hydrangea

On November 7, 1768, the Bougainville expedition arrived on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. The crew went ashore for a long rest. Commerson, settling in the luxurious estate of the governor of the island of Poivre, spent quite a lot of time in the company of the military engineer Jean-Henri Bernardier de Saint-Pierre, who was fond of not only botany, but also Madame Poivre. This beautiful young woman always wore airy outfits and loved white, pink and blue flowers. Once an engineer took a Parisian scientist to that part of the park where an unknown shrub, recently brought from China, grew, covered with pink or blue inflorescences-balls, from which he made bouquets for his beloved woman. Commerson immediately realized that before him was a bush unknown in Europe, and decided that he should be given the name of the beloved engineer. But that day, Nassau-Siegen took part in their walk. The young prince enthusiastically talked about his beautiful sister Hortense and showed her a miniature portrait. Commerson quickly realized that he had the opportunity to distinguish himself, and immediately suggested that this Chinese flower be named after a distant princess. So, ironically, the flower, instead of being called "poavriya", became "hydrangea".