A tribute to a passionate botanist

Jos Aerts (1909 - 1982), a modest personality, self-taught and passionate botanist, cataloged the flora of Turnhout. His close friend Bert Vermeijen accompanied him on his journeys. He had his plant identifications verified by university professors in Flanders and the Netherlands.

Jos's diligence ultimately resulted in a plant album of wild plants found exclusively in the territory of Turnhout.

As a tribute to this Turnhout botanist, we have developed a sustainable walking path, including information boards.

https://www.natuurpunt.be/afdelingen/natuurpunt-turnhoutse-kempen/jos-aerts

Unique drawings resurfacing

Turnhout resident Jos Aerts drew every little plant that grew in Turnhout territory for more than thirty years. After his death in 1982, this unique work disappeared into the archives of the city. Next year, it will finally resurface.

jmartynowski

Friday, October 27, 2006, at 11:00

Jos Aerts (1909-1982) was a remarkable man. He was a pioneer in the Turnhout scouts, very active in the Historical and Archaeological Society Taxandria, and co-founder of the nature association De Wielewaal. The preservation of nature was dear to his heart. He is known for the saying "In all that time, only one letter has changed: the heath has become meadow."

”That love for nature was the foundation for a unique life's work,” says Jef Roymans, chairman of Taxandria. “Jos Aerts set out to document all the little plants that grew in Turnhout territory for future generations. He took Turnhout's territory very literally. A plant that grew two centimeters beyond the border was not included in his collection.

Jos Aerts 'collected' his plants in a unique way: he drew them. In summer, he ventured into nature with his pencil, and in winter he finished his drawings with Indian ink. For each drawing, he noted the Dutch and the Latin name. He also mentioned the date he discovered the plant and a number that referred to coordinates on a topographic map, so we could find the location with an accuracy of ten meters.”

Jos Aerts drew over nine hundred plants, but actually many more. Because he remade the first four hundred plates, as he did not find them good enough. Aerts sought contact with various universities to ensure that his documentation was scientifically accurate. Professor Van der Veken from Ghent University encouraged Aerts to compile a herbarium.

Kempense Dodoens

Jos Aerts drew plants with poetic names such as heather spurrey, dwarf feltwort, grain goosefoot, two-bud hogweed, and shield fruitage price. This earned him the nickname Kempense Dodoens. After his death in 1982, the city of Turnhout inherited the entire collection.

”Jos even mentioned in his will that he wanted to set aside money to bind the work,” says Jef Roymans. “Initially, there were enthusiastic plans to publish the collection, but the costs turned out to be too high. The life's work of Jos Aerts disappeared into a safe and was forgotten until a niece of Jos approached me about it last year. What was not possible 25 years ago can now be done thanks to modern technology.

With the cooperation of Natuurpunt and Professor Van der Veken, we selected 240 drawings that we will publish in book form. At the back of the book is a CD-ROM containing all the drawings.”

Taxandria will publish the book in 2007, 25 years after the death of Jos Aerts. The book is being released in conjunction with an exhibition about Jos Aerts starting May 11, 2007, but anyone interested in this unique reference work can already pre-order it and get the book for 32 instead of 38 euros.

Jos Aerts not only left behind a beautiful plant album but also a collection of 50,000 dialect words, with phonetic spelling and explanation. ”People are already asking me to publish this work as well,” laughs Jef Roymans. ”That is a monumental task. But we will certainly pay attention to it at the exhibition.”