Pierre Sonnerat

Pierre Sonnerat (August 18, 1748 – March 31, 1814) was a French naturalist and explorer.

Sonnerat was the nephew of the botanist Pierre Poivre. He made several voyages to southeast Asia, visiting the Philippines and Moluccas between 1769 and 1772, and India and China from 1774 to 1781. He was the first person to give a scientific description of the south Chinese fruit tree lychee.

His books included Voyage à la Nouvelle-Guinée (1776) and Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait depuis 1774 jusqu'à 1781 (1782).

The standard botanical author abbreviation Sonn. is applied to plants he described.