Carlos Ossenbach - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Carlos Ossenbach

Research paper thumbnail of Orchids of the Southern Cone (1830–2000) – Part II. The Philippi dynasty: <i>Plantarum Novarum Chilensium</i> and <i>Catalogus Plantarum Chilensium</i&gt

Lankesteriana International Journal on Orchidology, Mar 8, 2023

Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852) (Fig. 1) was born in Berlin and as a young boy, moved with hi... more Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852) (Fig. 1) was born in Berlin and as a young boy, moved with his family to Switzerland in 1818. Together with his brother Rudolph, he attended the school of Heinrich Pestalozzi in Yverdon, where he studied natural sciences and languages. However, more inclined toward the exact sciences, he completed his studies at the School of Engineering in Berlin between 1822 and 1830. After learning the arts of navigation and seamanship in the harbor of Danzig, Philippi took part in two expeditions to Chile and Peru, between 1831 and 1837. In 1840, he was appointed as a traveling naturalist by the Zoological Museum in Berlin and established himself in the village of Ancud, on the Chilean island of Chiloé. In Ancud, he made the acquaintance of Captain John Williams, who in 1843, encouraged him to take part in the Chilean expedition that would take possession of the Strait of Magellan. The schooner Ancud was built especially for this expedition. After securing the Strait of Magellan for Chile (just one day before the arrival of the French warship Le Phaèton, which sailed with similar intentions), Philippi played an important role in designing the fortifications that were built on the site of the future city of Punta Arenas (founded in 1848) (Fig. 2). In 1848, Bernhard Philippi traveled to Germany with orders of the Chilean President Bulnes to recruit German settlers, a mission he completed successfully. Soon, the first German colonies began to flourish in Valdivia. In 1852, he was called back by the Chilean authorities and was appointed Governor of the province of Magallanes. Only a few months later, he disappeared during an excursion, presumably killed in an attack by the natives. During his 1838 journey to Chile, Philippi had made the acquaintance of a collector of specimens of natural history, the German by the name of Carlos Segeth (1811-1890), who interested Philippi in forming a society to sell botanical and zoological collections in Europe. The society was short-lived, but a few botanical specimens were received by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1823-1889), Germany's famous orchidologist of the 19 th century, who, amongst Bernhard Philippi's collections, described four new orchid species: Chloraea philippii Rchb.f. (Fig. 3), C. heteroglossa Rchb.f. (Fig. 4), C. unguis-cati Rchb.f., and Epidendrum philippii Rchb.f. There is no possible confusion as to which of the brothers collected these orchids because they were described in 1849-1850, while Rudolph Philippi did not arrive in Chile until abstraCt. Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852), his brother Rudolph Amandus Philippi (1808-1904), and the latter's son Federico Philippi (1836-1910) must be considered the main actors in the history of the natural sciences in Chile between 1840 and 1910. While Bernhard was responsible for convincing the rest of his family to emigrate to Chile (and in fact, became the initiator of German immigration to southern Chile), Rudolph became the leading Figure in Chile's scientific community, becoming the first director of the National Museum of Natural History, a post he held from 1853 to 1897. The description of many new orchid species in the series Plantarum novarum Chilensium (1856-1864) during this time is only one of his merits. His son Federico took over the direction of the Museum after his father's retirement until he died in 1910. Catalogus plantarum Chilensium (1881) stands out among his numerous publications.

Research paper thumbnail of Orchidaceae acostanae: typification of Costa Rican orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter from collections by Guillermo Acosta

Research paper thumbnail of Typification of Costa Rican Orchidaceae described by Rudolf Schlechter. Species variorum collectorum

Webbia

The typification of 53 orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter based on specimens gathered ... more The typification of 53 orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter based on specimens gathered in Costa Rica by Paul (Pablo) Biolley, Juan José Cooper Sandoval, Auguste R. Endrés, Carl Hoffmann, Emel Jiménez Segura, Otón Jiménez, Friedrich Carl Lehmann, Ferdinand Nevermann, Richard Pfau, and Henry Pittier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is discussed, and lectotypes are designated when necessary. Short biographical notes are provided for the main collectors whose Costa Rican orchid gatherings are presented here. Taxonomical and historical backgrounds are presented for the concerned taxa, and the rationale for their typifications is discussed. Lectotypes are proposed for Epidendrum dolichostachyum, E. selaginella, Habenaria jimenezii, Hexadesmia jimenezii, Masdevallia reflexa, Microstylis carpinterae, Notylia pittieri, Oncidium cabagrae, O. costaricense, Ornithidium biolleyi, Ornithocephalus xiphochilus, Physurus lehmannii, Platystele bulbinella, Pleurothallis pittieri, P....

Research paper thumbnail of Orchids of the Southern Cone (1830–2000) – Part I Claude Gay’s physical and political history of Chile

Lankesteriana

The life and works of French botanist Claude (Claudio) Gay (1800–1873) are presented, with specia... more The life and works of French botanist Claude (Claudio) Gay (1800–1873) are presented, with special consideration to Orchidaceae. This work aims to bring to light the life of a brilliant scientist who dedicated his professional life to the study of Chile’s natural history and his seldom-mentioned monumental work that contains the first complete orchid flora of Chile. The most important modern and contemporary bibliographical sources have been consulted, as well as Gay’s original publications. Claude (Claudio) arrived in Chile in 1828 and lived in the country until 1842, engaged by the Chilean government to conduct a scientific survey of the country. He traveled across the country collecting objects of natural history which became the foundation stone of the Cabinet of Natural History, the precursor of Chile’s National Museum of Natural History. Gay returned to France in 1842 and, commissioned by the Chilean Minister of the Interior, published his Historia física y política de Chile, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Robert Dressler (1927-2019) - A botanist for all seasons

Lankesteriana International Journal on Orchidology, 2019

123456478 121ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ !"#ÿ %"&&'"ÿ ()*+,-+.)*/ ÿ-ÿ 0ÿ ! #012 &#ÿ 3 ÿ 0''ÿ &"0& 1&

Research paper thumbnail of In memoriam: Moisés Béhar (1922-2015)

Lankesteriana, 2015

Moi, as he liked to be called by family and friends, passed away on February 14th in Jerusalem, w... more Moi, as he liked to be called by family and friends, passed away on February 14th in Jerusalem, where he had enjoyed the last years of his life in the loving care of his daughter Jacqueline. At the age of 92, he now rests in peace in the Mount of Olives Cemetery. After Otto Mittelstaedt (1919-2000) and Otto Tinschert (1915-2006), Guatemala’s orchidology has now lost the third of its founding fathers.

Research paper thumbnail of Charles H. Lankester: Estudioso y conservacionista de orquídeas

espanolBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter portuguesBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter English... more espanolBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter portuguesBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter EnglishBiography of Carlos Ossenbach Sauter

Research paper thumbnail of Fritz Hamer (1912-2004) -In Memoriam

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids II. Schlechter's "network": Brazil (La Plata river basin)

Lankesteriana, Nov 25, 2019

As the second chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter's South-American Orchids, a backgroun... more As the second chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter's South-American Orchids, a background of the orchidological work by foreign and Brazilian orchidologists in southern Brazil is outlined, as well as the history of the most important botanical institutions in this region. In order to establish coherent geographical units, the institutions, botanists and collectors mentioned in this chapter are those whose main activity concentrated in the Brazilian part of the La Plata River Basin, or in other words, the Brazilian states including and southwards of Matto Grosso, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo. The most important figures in Schlechter's Brazilian "network" are presented, with short biographical notes and description of their most important botanical exploits.

Research paper thumbnail of Pioneers of the botanical exploration of South America – Early 19th Century Jean-Théodore Decourtilz (1796–1855)

Lankesteriana, Dec 15, 2017

Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (1796-1855) was a well-known ornithologist who produced beautiful illus... more Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (1796-1855) was a well-known ornithologist who produced beautiful illustrated books on Brazilian birds. Less-known is an unpublished manuscript with watercolours of Brazilian orchids, which was acquired by the wealthy French Baron Delessert, who send it on loan to John Lindley. Lindley described dozens of new orchid species based on Descourtilz' illustrations and used several of them as models for his beautiful publication Sertum Orchidaceum. Here we present a large selection of Descourtilz' original illustrations of Brazilian orchids, including all the drawings that have been used by Lindley to typify his new taxa based on Descourtilz' exploration.

Research paper thumbnail of The Orchidaceae of Primitiae Florae Essequeboensis (1818)

Lankesteriana, Dec 17, 2018

Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer (1782-1856), studied the plants collected in the Dutch colony of Essequib... more Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer (1782-1856), studied the plants collected in the Dutch colony of Essequibo by Ernst Carl Rodschied and those kept in the herbarium of Professor Franz Karl Mertens, which he had received from a Dutch colonist during the early 1800s. On that basis, he published in 1818 his work Primitiae Florae Essequeboensis, describing 344 species of plants. Among them there are five species of orchids, two of which were new to science.

Research paper thumbnail of The orchids of John Henry Lance (1793–1878)

Lankesteriana, Apr 15, 2020

John Henry Lance, a British barrister, spent a ten-year term in Surinam as Judge appointed to the... more John Henry Lance, a British barrister, spent a ten-year term in Surinam as Judge appointed to the 'Mixed Court' in Paramaribo, a post created to supervise the compliance of the Dutch authorities with a treaty signed between the Netherlands and England in 1818 prohibiting the slave trade in the Dutch colonies. During his term in Paramaribo, Lance, a friend of Bateman and Lindley, collected several new orchid species. However, his collection of watercolors depicting plants from Surinam, many of them orchids, would appear to be more important. Some of these were painted by himself, others by the Surinamese artist Gerrit Schouten. The orchids of this collection, never published, were supplied by the Lindley Library of the R.H.S. and are reproduced here with its kind permission.

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids IV. Schlechter's "network": Venezuela and Colombia

Lankesteriana

The fourth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids again presents ... more The fourth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids again presents abridged biographical information about the botanists and orchid collectors that formed part of Schlechter’s South-American network and who traveled and worked in those countries on the continent’s northern and Caribbean coasts, through Venezuela and Colombia. In the case of Colombia, we cross the isthmus of Darien and arrive for the first time on the Pacific coast of South America. As in other chapters, brief geographical and historical introductory outlines are presented for each of these countries, followed by a narrative on those orchidologists who visited the area, chronologically by the dates of their botanical collections. Keywords/Palabras clave: biography, biografía, history of botany, historia de la botánica, Orchidaceae For accessing the high-resolution PDF, please follow this link: https://n9.cl/13ugw

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids V. Schlechter's "network": Ecuador and Peru

Lankesteriana

The fifth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids introduces us to... more The fifth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids introduces us to those botanists and orchid collectors who travelled and worked in Ecuador and Peru and supplied Schlechter with many of the new orchid species he described. As in previous chapters, the biographies and accomplishments of these travellers are preceded by brief geographical and historical outlines for each of these countries. It is worth mentioning that the lives and orchids of such prominent figures in the orchidology of South America as F.C. Lehmann, W. Hennis, E. Bungeroth and E. Ule, who collected in Ecuador and Peru, have already been mentioned in previous chapters and are therefore omitted here. Keywords/Palabras clave: biography, biografía, history of botany, historia de la botánica, Orchidaceae For accessing the high-resolution PDF, please follow this link: https://n9.cl/836os

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids III. Schlechter's "network": North and Northeast Brazil, The Guianas

Lankesteriana

The third chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids presents concise... more The third chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids presents concise biographical information about those botanists and orchid collectors who were connected to Schlechter and worked in north and northeastern Brazil, as well as in the three Guianas. As an introduction, a brief geographical outline is presented, dividing the northern territories in four zones: the Amazon basin, the Araguaia-Tocantins river basin, the Northeast region and the Guianas. It is followed by a short mention of the historical milestones in the history of orchids in these regions during the preceding centuries. Key words: Amazon River, biography, history of botany, Orchidaceae, Roraima, Tocantins River

Research paper thumbnail of Orchids in the era of Grigory von Langsdorff: two golden decades in the history of the botanical exploration of Brazil (1813–1830)

Lankesteriana

The figure of Grigory Ivanovich von Langsdorff was largely neglected by the scientific literature... more The figure of Grigory Ivanovich von Langsdorff was largely neglected by the scientific literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. German-born von Langsdorff was consul of the Russian Empire in Rio de Janeiro. His activities in Brazil from 1813 to 1830 are here described, a time during which his house in Rio and his famous fazenda Mandiocca became the center of scientific activity and the point of attraction for European travellers and naturalists who flocked to Brazil after its frontiers were opened to foreigners in 1808 by King Joao VI of Portugal. Wilhelm Freyreiss, Friedrich Sellow, Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied, Augustin de Saint-Hilaire, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, Johann Baptist von Spix, Giuseppe Raddi, Johann Baptist Emanuel Pohl, and Ludwig Riedel are among those who explored Brazil impulsed by von Langsdorff and often under his patronage. Their journeys in Brazil culminated in von Langsdorff’s ill-fated expedition to the interior of Brazil between 1822 and 1829, while...

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids I. Historical and bibliographical background

Lankesteriana

This study represents the first part of a series dedicated to the work of Rudolf Schlechter on th... more This study represents the first part of a series dedicated to the work of Rudolf Schlechter on the orchid flora of South America. The historical background of Schlechter’s botanical activity is outlined, and salient aspects of his biography, as well as his main scientific relationships, in particular with Oakes Ames, and the origins of his interest in tropical America are discussed. We also present a complete bibliography relative to Schlechter’s production on the orchid floras of South American countries, with his network of orchid collectors, growers and other purveyors, and checklists of all the new taxa that he described from each individual country. Key words: bibliography, biography, history of botany, Orchidaceae, South America

Research paper thumbnail of Precursors of the botanical exploration of South America. Wilhelm Piso (1611–1678) and Georg Marcgrave (1610–1644)

Lankesteriana

The Dutch colonization of northeastern Brazil from 1630 to 1654 is described, with emphasis on th... more The Dutch colonization of northeastern Brazil from 1630 to 1654 is described, with emphasis on the years 1636–1644, when the colony was under the administration of Johan-Maurits Prince of Nassau-Siegen (1604–1679). During his rule, the Company sent the geographer and astronomer Georg Marcgrave (1610–1644) and the physician Wilhelm Piso (1611–1644) to Recife. Both explored northern Brazil and made rich botanical and zoological collections, which were published in Amsterdam in 1648, after Pisos’s return, under the title Historia Naturalis Brasiliae; a second edition followed in 1658. In this work Piso mentions for the first time the orchid Vanilla in its current spelling. Both Piso and Marcgrave collected and illustrated Catasetum maculatum L.C.R., whilst a third orchid species, Trigonidium acuminatum Batem., can be found in Marcgrave’s herbarium.

Research paper thumbnail of Orchidaceae tonduzianae: Typification of Costa Rican Orchidaceae Described from Collections of Adolphe Tonduz

Harvard Papers in Botany, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of In Memoriam: Fritz Hamer 1912–2004

Research paper thumbnail of Orchids of the Southern Cone (1830–2000) – Part II. The Philippi dynasty: <i>Plantarum Novarum Chilensium</i> and <i>Catalogus Plantarum Chilensium</i&gt

Lankesteriana International Journal on Orchidology, Mar 8, 2023

Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852) (Fig. 1) was born in Berlin and as a young boy, moved with hi... more Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852) (Fig. 1) was born in Berlin and as a young boy, moved with his family to Switzerland in 1818. Together with his brother Rudolph, he attended the school of Heinrich Pestalozzi in Yverdon, where he studied natural sciences and languages. However, more inclined toward the exact sciences, he completed his studies at the School of Engineering in Berlin between 1822 and 1830. After learning the arts of navigation and seamanship in the harbor of Danzig, Philippi took part in two expeditions to Chile and Peru, between 1831 and 1837. In 1840, he was appointed as a traveling naturalist by the Zoological Museum in Berlin and established himself in the village of Ancud, on the Chilean island of Chiloé. In Ancud, he made the acquaintance of Captain John Williams, who in 1843, encouraged him to take part in the Chilean expedition that would take possession of the Strait of Magellan. The schooner Ancud was built especially for this expedition. After securing the Strait of Magellan for Chile (just one day before the arrival of the French warship Le Phaèton, which sailed with similar intentions), Philippi played an important role in designing the fortifications that were built on the site of the future city of Punta Arenas (founded in 1848) (Fig. 2). In 1848, Bernhard Philippi traveled to Germany with orders of the Chilean President Bulnes to recruit German settlers, a mission he completed successfully. Soon, the first German colonies began to flourish in Valdivia. In 1852, he was called back by the Chilean authorities and was appointed Governor of the province of Magallanes. Only a few months later, he disappeared during an excursion, presumably killed in an attack by the natives. During his 1838 journey to Chile, Philippi had made the acquaintance of a collector of specimens of natural history, the German by the name of Carlos Segeth (1811-1890), who interested Philippi in forming a society to sell botanical and zoological collections in Europe. The society was short-lived, but a few botanical specimens were received by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1823-1889), Germany's famous orchidologist of the 19 th century, who, amongst Bernhard Philippi's collections, described four new orchid species: Chloraea philippii Rchb.f. (Fig. 3), C. heteroglossa Rchb.f. (Fig. 4), C. unguis-cati Rchb.f., and Epidendrum philippii Rchb.f. There is no possible confusion as to which of the brothers collected these orchids because they were described in 1849-1850, while Rudolph Philippi did not arrive in Chile until abstraCt. Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852), his brother Rudolph Amandus Philippi (1808-1904), and the latter's son Federico Philippi (1836-1910) must be considered the main actors in the history of the natural sciences in Chile between 1840 and 1910. While Bernhard was responsible for convincing the rest of his family to emigrate to Chile (and in fact, became the initiator of German immigration to southern Chile), Rudolph became the leading Figure in Chile's scientific community, becoming the first director of the National Museum of Natural History, a post he held from 1853 to 1897. The description of many new orchid species in the series Plantarum novarum Chilensium (1856-1864) during this time is only one of his merits. His son Federico took over the direction of the Museum after his father's retirement until he died in 1910. Catalogus plantarum Chilensium (1881) stands out among his numerous publications.

Research paper thumbnail of Orchidaceae acostanae: typification of Costa Rican orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter from collections by Guillermo Acosta

Research paper thumbnail of Typification of Costa Rican Orchidaceae described by Rudolf Schlechter. Species variorum collectorum

Webbia

The typification of 53 orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter based on specimens gathered ... more The typification of 53 orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter based on specimens gathered in Costa Rica by Paul (Pablo) Biolley, Juan José Cooper Sandoval, Auguste R. Endrés, Carl Hoffmann, Emel Jiménez Segura, Otón Jiménez, Friedrich Carl Lehmann, Ferdinand Nevermann, Richard Pfau, and Henry Pittier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is discussed, and lectotypes are designated when necessary. Short biographical notes are provided for the main collectors whose Costa Rican orchid gatherings are presented here. Taxonomical and historical backgrounds are presented for the concerned taxa, and the rationale for their typifications is discussed. Lectotypes are proposed for Epidendrum dolichostachyum, E. selaginella, Habenaria jimenezii, Hexadesmia jimenezii, Masdevallia reflexa, Microstylis carpinterae, Notylia pittieri, Oncidium cabagrae, O. costaricense, Ornithidium biolleyi, Ornithocephalus xiphochilus, Physurus lehmannii, Platystele bulbinella, Pleurothallis pittieri, P....

Research paper thumbnail of Orchids of the Southern Cone (1830–2000) – Part I Claude Gay’s physical and political history of Chile

Lankesteriana

The life and works of French botanist Claude (Claudio) Gay (1800–1873) are presented, with specia... more The life and works of French botanist Claude (Claudio) Gay (1800–1873) are presented, with special consideration to Orchidaceae. This work aims to bring to light the life of a brilliant scientist who dedicated his professional life to the study of Chile’s natural history and his seldom-mentioned monumental work that contains the first complete orchid flora of Chile. The most important modern and contemporary bibliographical sources have been consulted, as well as Gay’s original publications. Claude (Claudio) arrived in Chile in 1828 and lived in the country until 1842, engaged by the Chilean government to conduct a scientific survey of the country. He traveled across the country collecting objects of natural history which became the foundation stone of the Cabinet of Natural History, the precursor of Chile’s National Museum of Natural History. Gay returned to France in 1842 and, commissioned by the Chilean Minister of the Interior, published his Historia física y política de Chile, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Robert Dressler (1927-2019) - A botanist for all seasons

Lankesteriana International Journal on Orchidology, 2019

123456478 121ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ !"#ÿ %"&&'"ÿ ()*+,-+.)*/ ÿ-ÿ 0ÿ ! #012 &#ÿ 3 ÿ 0''ÿ &"0& 1&

Research paper thumbnail of In memoriam: Moisés Béhar (1922-2015)

Lankesteriana, 2015

Moi, as he liked to be called by family and friends, passed away on February 14th in Jerusalem, w... more Moi, as he liked to be called by family and friends, passed away on February 14th in Jerusalem, where he had enjoyed the last years of his life in the loving care of his daughter Jacqueline. At the age of 92, he now rests in peace in the Mount of Olives Cemetery. After Otto Mittelstaedt (1919-2000) and Otto Tinschert (1915-2006), Guatemala’s orchidology has now lost the third of its founding fathers.

Research paper thumbnail of Charles H. Lankester: Estudioso y conservacionista de orquídeas

espanolBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter portuguesBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter English... more espanolBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter portuguesBiografia de Carlos Ossenbach Sauter EnglishBiography of Carlos Ossenbach Sauter

Research paper thumbnail of Fritz Hamer (1912-2004) -In Memoriam

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids II. Schlechter's "network": Brazil (La Plata river basin)

Lankesteriana, Nov 25, 2019

As the second chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter's South-American Orchids, a backgroun... more As the second chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter's South-American Orchids, a background of the orchidological work by foreign and Brazilian orchidologists in southern Brazil is outlined, as well as the history of the most important botanical institutions in this region. In order to establish coherent geographical units, the institutions, botanists and collectors mentioned in this chapter are those whose main activity concentrated in the Brazilian part of the La Plata River Basin, or in other words, the Brazilian states including and southwards of Matto Grosso, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo. The most important figures in Schlechter's Brazilian "network" are presented, with short biographical notes and description of their most important botanical exploits.

Research paper thumbnail of Pioneers of the botanical exploration of South America – Early 19th Century Jean-Théodore Decourtilz (1796–1855)

Lankesteriana, Dec 15, 2017

Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (1796-1855) was a well-known ornithologist who produced beautiful illus... more Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (1796-1855) was a well-known ornithologist who produced beautiful illustrated books on Brazilian birds. Less-known is an unpublished manuscript with watercolours of Brazilian orchids, which was acquired by the wealthy French Baron Delessert, who send it on loan to John Lindley. Lindley described dozens of new orchid species based on Descourtilz' illustrations and used several of them as models for his beautiful publication Sertum Orchidaceum. Here we present a large selection of Descourtilz' original illustrations of Brazilian orchids, including all the drawings that have been used by Lindley to typify his new taxa based on Descourtilz' exploration.

Research paper thumbnail of The Orchidaceae of Primitiae Florae Essequeboensis (1818)

Lankesteriana, Dec 17, 2018

Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer (1782-1856), studied the plants collected in the Dutch colony of Essequib... more Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer (1782-1856), studied the plants collected in the Dutch colony of Essequibo by Ernst Carl Rodschied and those kept in the herbarium of Professor Franz Karl Mertens, which he had received from a Dutch colonist during the early 1800s. On that basis, he published in 1818 his work Primitiae Florae Essequeboensis, describing 344 species of plants. Among them there are five species of orchids, two of which were new to science.

Research paper thumbnail of The orchids of John Henry Lance (1793–1878)

Lankesteriana, Apr 15, 2020

John Henry Lance, a British barrister, spent a ten-year term in Surinam as Judge appointed to the... more John Henry Lance, a British barrister, spent a ten-year term in Surinam as Judge appointed to the 'Mixed Court' in Paramaribo, a post created to supervise the compliance of the Dutch authorities with a treaty signed between the Netherlands and England in 1818 prohibiting the slave trade in the Dutch colonies. During his term in Paramaribo, Lance, a friend of Bateman and Lindley, collected several new orchid species. However, his collection of watercolors depicting plants from Surinam, many of them orchids, would appear to be more important. Some of these were painted by himself, others by the Surinamese artist Gerrit Schouten. The orchids of this collection, never published, were supplied by the Lindley Library of the R.H.S. and are reproduced here with its kind permission.

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids IV. Schlechter's "network": Venezuela and Colombia

Lankesteriana

The fourth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids again presents ... more The fourth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids again presents abridged biographical information about the botanists and orchid collectors that formed part of Schlechter’s South-American network and who traveled and worked in those countries on the continent’s northern and Caribbean coasts, through Venezuela and Colombia. In the case of Colombia, we cross the isthmus of Darien and arrive for the first time on the Pacific coast of South America. As in other chapters, brief geographical and historical introductory outlines are presented for each of these countries, followed by a narrative on those orchidologists who visited the area, chronologically by the dates of their botanical collections. Keywords/Palabras clave: biography, biografía, history of botany, historia de la botánica, Orchidaceae For accessing the high-resolution PDF, please follow this link: https://n9.cl/13ugw

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids V. Schlechter's "network": Ecuador and Peru

Lankesteriana

The fifth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids introduces us to... more The fifth chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids introduces us to those botanists and orchid collectors who travelled and worked in Ecuador and Peru and supplied Schlechter with many of the new orchid species he described. As in previous chapters, the biographies and accomplishments of these travellers are preceded by brief geographical and historical outlines for each of these countries. It is worth mentioning that the lives and orchids of such prominent figures in the orchidology of South America as F.C. Lehmann, W. Hennis, E. Bungeroth and E. Ule, who collected in Ecuador and Peru, have already been mentioned in previous chapters and are therefore omitted here. Keywords/Palabras clave: biography, biografía, history of botany, historia de la botánica, Orchidaceae For accessing the high-resolution PDF, please follow this link: https://n9.cl/836os

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids III. Schlechter's "network": North and Northeast Brazil, The Guianas

Lankesteriana

The third chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids presents concise... more The third chapter of the series about Rudolf Schlechter’s South-American orchids presents concise biographical information about those botanists and orchid collectors who were connected to Schlechter and worked in north and northeastern Brazil, as well as in the three Guianas. As an introduction, a brief geographical outline is presented, dividing the northern territories in four zones: the Amazon basin, the Araguaia-Tocantins river basin, the Northeast region and the Guianas. It is followed by a short mention of the historical milestones in the history of orchids in these regions during the preceding centuries. Key words: Amazon River, biography, history of botany, Orchidaceae, Roraima, Tocantins River

Research paper thumbnail of Orchids in the era of Grigory von Langsdorff: two golden decades in the history of the botanical exploration of Brazil (1813–1830)

Lankesteriana

The figure of Grigory Ivanovich von Langsdorff was largely neglected by the scientific literature... more The figure of Grigory Ivanovich von Langsdorff was largely neglected by the scientific literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. German-born von Langsdorff was consul of the Russian Empire in Rio de Janeiro. His activities in Brazil from 1813 to 1830 are here described, a time during which his house in Rio and his famous fazenda Mandiocca became the center of scientific activity and the point of attraction for European travellers and naturalists who flocked to Brazil after its frontiers were opened to foreigners in 1808 by King Joao VI of Portugal. Wilhelm Freyreiss, Friedrich Sellow, Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied, Augustin de Saint-Hilaire, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, Johann Baptist von Spix, Giuseppe Raddi, Johann Baptist Emanuel Pohl, and Ludwig Riedel are among those who explored Brazil impulsed by von Langsdorff and often under his patronage. Their journeys in Brazil culminated in von Langsdorff’s ill-fated expedition to the interior of Brazil between 1822 and 1829, while...

Research paper thumbnail of Rudolf Schlechter's South-American orchids I. Historical and bibliographical background

Lankesteriana

This study represents the first part of a series dedicated to the work of Rudolf Schlechter on th... more This study represents the first part of a series dedicated to the work of Rudolf Schlechter on the orchid flora of South America. The historical background of Schlechter’s botanical activity is outlined, and salient aspects of his biography, as well as his main scientific relationships, in particular with Oakes Ames, and the origins of his interest in tropical America are discussed. We also present a complete bibliography relative to Schlechter’s production on the orchid floras of South American countries, with his network of orchid collectors, growers and other purveyors, and checklists of all the new taxa that he described from each individual country. Key words: bibliography, biography, history of botany, Orchidaceae, South America

Research paper thumbnail of Precursors of the botanical exploration of South America. Wilhelm Piso (1611–1678) and Georg Marcgrave (1610–1644)

Lankesteriana

The Dutch colonization of northeastern Brazil from 1630 to 1654 is described, with emphasis on th... more The Dutch colonization of northeastern Brazil from 1630 to 1654 is described, with emphasis on the years 1636–1644, when the colony was under the administration of Johan-Maurits Prince of Nassau-Siegen (1604–1679). During his rule, the Company sent the geographer and astronomer Georg Marcgrave (1610–1644) and the physician Wilhelm Piso (1611–1644) to Recife. Both explored northern Brazil and made rich botanical and zoological collections, which were published in Amsterdam in 1648, after Pisos’s return, under the title Historia Naturalis Brasiliae; a second edition followed in 1658. In this work Piso mentions for the first time the orchid Vanilla in its current spelling. Both Piso and Marcgrave collected and illustrated Catasetum maculatum L.C.R., whilst a third orchid species, Trigonidium acuminatum Batem., can be found in Marcgrave’s herbarium.

Research paper thumbnail of Orchidaceae tonduzianae: Typification of Costa Rican Orchidaceae Described from Collections of Adolphe Tonduz

Harvard Papers in Botany, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of In Memoriam: Fritz Hamer 1912–2004