Richard was born at Versailles. Between 1781 and 1789 he collected botanical specimens in Central America and the West Indies. On his return he became a professor at the École de médecine in Paris.
His books included Demonstrations botaniques (1808), De Orchideis europaeis (1817), Commentatio botanica de Conifereis et Cycadeis (1826) and De Musaceis commentatio botanica (1831).
He gave us the special description terminology for the orchids, such as pollinium and gynostemium.
A species of Caribbean lizard, Anolis richardii, is named in honor of Louis Claude Richard. A species of Caribbean snake, Typhlops richardii, is named in honor of either Louis Claude Richard or his son Achille Richard.[2]
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Richard, A. and L.C.M.", p. 220).