José Mariano De Conceição Veloso

Place: Tiradentes

Born: 1742

Death: 1811

Biography:

José Mariano da Conceição Vellozo, also known as José Mariano de Conceição Veloso, was a Brazilian botanist and Franciscan friar. He was born on October 14, 1742 in Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and died on July 14, 1811 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Vellozo studied philosophy and theology at the Convent of Santo Antônio do Rio de Janeiro and was ordained as a priest in 1766. He later moved to São Paulo where he taught classes. As a botanist, Vellozo catalogued specimens and contributed to the understanding of Brazilian flora. His most notable work is Florae Fluminensis (1825-1827; 1831), which describes over 1600 species with illustrations created by Friar Francisco Solano and Antonio Alvares. Vellozo's contributions to botany led to the naming of two genera in his honor: Vellosiella, a genus of hemiparasitic flowering plants from South America belonging to the family Orobanchaceae; and Mycovellosiella, a genus of fungi belonging to the family Mycosphaerellaceae.