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Table 7. Species of Orchidaceae that grew in the Botanical Station of Belize in 1899 (Balick et al., 2000: 14) .
Botanical name as it appears in the original list Botanical name today
Brassavola nodosa Brassavola nodosa (L.) Lindl.
Brassavola grandiflora Brassavola grandiflora Lindl.
Brassavola cuspidata Brassavola cuspidata Hook.
Brassia maculata Brassia maculata R. Br.
Epidendrum cochleatum Prosthechea cochleata (L.) W.E. Higgins
Epidendrum radicans Epidendrum radicans Pavón ex Lindl.
Epidendrum acicularis Encyclia bractescens (Lindl.) Hoehne
Epidendrum bootheri Prosthechea boothiana (Lindl.) W. E. Higgins
Epidendrum stamfordianum Epidendrum stamfordianum Batem.
Epidendrum atropurpureum Encyclia cordigera (Kunth) Dressler
Epidendrum alatum Encyclia alata (Batem.) Schltr.
Epidendrum alatum majus Encyclia alata (Batem.) Schltr. var. majus
Galeandra Batemanii Galeandra batemanii Rolfe
Catasetum tridentatum Catasetum tridentatum Hook.
Cattleya skinneri Guarianthe skinneri (Batem.) Dressler & N. H. Williams
Cattleya Gaskelliana Cattleya gaskelliana B. S. Wms.
Oncidium luridum Trichocentrum luridum (Lindl.) M.W. Chase & N. H. Williams
Oncidium papilio Psychopsis papilio (Lindl.) H. G. Jones
Dendrobium moschatum Dendrobium moschatum Sw.
Dendrobium fimbriatum Dendrobium fimbriatum Hook.
Stanhopea grandiflora Stanhopea grandiflora (Lodd.) Lindl.
Schomburgkia undulata Schomburgkia undulata Lindl.
Vanilla planifolia Vanilla planifolia Andr.
Eugene Campbell made several collections of
Orchidaceae during his time as superintendent of the
Botanical Station: Brassavola cucullata (L.) R. Br.
(Campbell s.n.), Cycnoches ventricosum Bateman
(Campbell s.n.), Encyclia alata (Batem.) Schltr.
(Campbell s.n.), Epidendrum ciliare L. (Campbell
s.n.), and Rhyncholaelia dygbiana (Benth.) Schltr.
(Campbell 104).
A list of the plants in cultivation at the Botanic
Station in 1899 can be found in the archives of Kew,
sent by C. A. Moloney, Governor and Commander-in-
Chief. This list is apparently the earliest list of plants
collected or introduced into the colony, and it shows
23 species of orchids. [Table 7] Among the species
mentioned in this list is Prosthechea cochleata, the
“Black Orchid”, Belize’s National Flower. There
is another list in the archives of Kew, indicating
that there was an herbarium at the Botanic Centre.
The whereabouts of these collections are however
unknown” (Balick et al., 2000: 15).
32 This chapter follows mostly Gómez, 2007.
LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
Central American orchids in England at the end of
the XIX century 32 . Among the most important English
establishments dedicated to the import and growing of
orchids were the house of B.S. & H. Williams (Victoria
and Paradise Nurseries) and that of James Veitch in
Chelsea, of which we talked in the previous chapter.
The first one produced the famous The Orchid-
Grower’s Manual, (first edition 1852), and the second
a catalogue, the Hortus Veitchii, published in 1906.
The Williams were great promoters of British
orchidomania, particularly Benjamin who began,
in 1851 and at the suggestion of John Lindley, a
divulgative series entitled Orchids for the Millions,
published in The Gardeners’ Chronicle. From this
series the famous Orchid Album was derived, a
monthly publication with illustrations by John Fitch.
The Orchid-Grower’s Manual contains 796 pages,
with 310 line illustrations. We are following here the
7 th (last) edition, published in 1894, which lists a total
of 3,359 taxa of which the authors consider that 2,650