pierre-paul saunier (1751–1818) was a gardener who worked first at montbard in the bourgogne region in eastern france, and then at the jardin du roi in paris where he was a protégé of head gardener andré thouin (1746–1824). in 1785, thouin selected him to accompany the explorer-botanist andré michaux (1746–1802) to north america where he was to assist in the establishment of a royal garden for the french crown.