Albert Mocquerys in Venezuela (1893–1894): A Commercial Collector of Plants, Birds, and Insects (original) (raw)
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Willdenowia, 2006
The collections from the Royal Spanish Expeditions to Latin America conserved in the Institut Botànic de Barcelona, comprising 695 specimens, illustrate the changing fortunes in the study of the flora of tropical America by Spanish botanists and their herbarium material. We present data on the collectors, the collection localities and the expeditions, and as electronic supplement, a list of all specimens with collecting data and the determinations on the sheets.
From Tropical Flora to Neotropical Flora: José Cuatrecasas and his botanical works
Mediterranean Botany, 2022
The aim of this article is to present the life and professional trajectory of José Cuatrecasas Arumí (1903-1996), one of the 20th century's most important Spanish botanists. Therefore, this is a historical study that intends to link the historical circumstances Cuatrecasas experienced with his training as a botanist. This Catalan botanist developed his work in various settings (Barcelona, Madrid, Geneva, Berlin) from his early studies to his doctorate and postdoctoral training, but he began to take an interest in tropical flora from the late 1920s and, more importantly, from the 1930s onwards, when he obtained a chair of botany at the Facultad de Farmacia of the Universidad de Madrid and also became part of the Real Jardín Botánico of Madrid by directing its Tropical Flora Section. The Civil War permanently disrupted the development of his scientific career in Spain, as his Republican militancy forced him into exile. Initially in Colombia and later in the United States, Cuatrecasas continued his lines of research on tropical flora, completing them in the 1960s with an ambitious project in the field of Neotropical Flora. This is how the life and scientific curriculum of one of the best Spanish botanists of the 20th century was forged.
Condor, 2007
Until recently, a major gap has existed in our knowledge regarding Mexican bird information from the Real Expedición Botánica a Nueva España in the late 1700s. This expedition (1787-1803) was commanded by Martín de Sessé; the Mexican scientist José Mariano Mociñ o joined the group in 1790, but his ornithological findings were never published and have long been considered lost. However, study of the Sessé-Mociñ o ornithological results began in 1979 with the appearance of a small collection of original paintings, apparently from the expedition. Later, in 1997, unpublished manuscripts were discovered in the library of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid that included descriptions of many bird species, again apparently Sessé-Mociñ o material. These discoveries, covering an important portion of the overall ornithological results of the expedition, make possible a broader study of the Sessé-Mociñ o ornithology: a taxonomic list using modern nomenclature, an analysis of the correspondence between the paintings and the manuscripts, and conclusions regarding the provenance of those materials. Of a total of 83 paintings available, we were able to identify 78 to species, and 5 only to family. In the manuscripts, 290 species were treated, but for 27, the descriptions were fragmentary and insufficient for identification; of the remaining 263 species, we arrived at a species-level identification for 242, and identified the remainder to genus (19) or family (2). The recent discovery of these ornithological texts and paintings offers a unique view of the history of ornithology as well as of the environmental history of Mexico.
A botanical survey of Joseph Quer's Flora española
Willdenowia
We examine various aspects of Joseph Quer's Flora española (1762-1764, 1784), taking into consideration the contributions made by Casimiro Gómez Ortega and proposing that he be credited as a co-author on the last two volumes of the work. Flora española comprises 2602 species, 2493 of which are vascular plants, including both wild and cultivated species. When assigned to the currently accepted species of Flora iberica, we obtain 1690 native or naturalized plant species (28 % of the total Spanish species). Most of the reported species correspond to common plants, only 3 % are considered narrowly distributed species and no more than 5 % are endemic species. In Flora española only two species are proposed as new. The limited number of new taxa may be due to Quer's self-taught background, strongly influenced by Tournefort's work, and the unfavourable scientific environment, characterized by the lack of resources and supporting institutions. By far the weakest points of Flora española are the names listed in alphabetical order and the use of old polynomials instead of Linnaean binomials. In contrast, the study of dried plants then kept at herbaria constituted a suitable working methodology, which made this Flora a solid base for subsequent works in the Iberian Peninsula. We also address the extensive field work carried out by Quer: he visited 632 different localities spread over most of the Iberian Peninsula. The information provided in Flora española, together with a thorough review of Quer's herbarium vouchers, the labels of which do not include information on localities, allows us to gain valuable insights into some rare and potentially extinct species. Resumen: Se analizan diversos aspectos de la Flora española de Joseph Quer (1762-64, 1784). Se revisa la aportación de Casimiro Gómez Ortega y se propone su coautoría en los dos últimos volúmenes de la obra. La Flora española comprende 2602 especies, 2493 de las cuales son plantas vasculares, que incluyen tanto especies silvestres como cultivadas. Cuando estas especies son asignadas a las actualmente aceptadas en Flora iberica, se obtienen 1690 especies nativas o naturalizadas (28 % del total de especies de España). La mayor parte de las especies citadas corresponden a plantas comunes, solo el 3 % tienen un área de distribución reducida y únicamente el 5 % son especies endémicas. En la Flora española solo se proponen 2 nuevas especies. La escasa originalidad de esta flora puede deberse a la formación autodidacta de Quer, fuertemente influenciado por la obra de Tournefort, y a un entorno científico poco propicio por la falta de instituciones y medios materiales. La ordenación alfabética de la Flora española y el uso de los antiguos polinomios en vez de los nombres binomiales linneanos son sus puntos más débiles. Por el contrario, la preparación de un herbario como base de su flora, hace de su trabajo un sólido precedente de las floras actuales. En el mismo sentido, se puede destacar el amplio trabajo de campo realizado por Quer, quien visitó 632 localidades distintas repartidas por casi toda la Península Ibérica. La información proporcionada por la Flora española junto con la revisión exhaustiva del material de herbario de Quer, cuyas etiquetas carecen de localidad, nos ha permitido obtener nuevos datos sobre algunas especies raras o posiblemente extintas.
Webbia, 2021
Cienfuegos Botanical Garden is the oldest functioning botanical institution of Cuba. It was established originally as a joint endeavor between sugar magnate Edwin F. Atkins and Harvard University in 1901. Between 1925 and 1934, the research yacht Utowana performed ample plant germplasm collections for the USDA in the New and Old World as well as archeological and zoological surveys in the Neotropics. The botanical expeditions were conducted mostly, under the leadership of David Fairchild. In this contribution we review to what extent Utowana expeditions and collections were instrumental in building the living collections of Cienfuegos Botanical Garden. A total of 278 accessions (comprising 254 species) were introduced into this garden directly or indirectly through these expeditions. Currently 57 of these species (132 individuals) are still part of its living collections. Interestingly, five of the Caribbean expeditions of this research yacht carried plant material between the Cienf...