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128 LANKESTERIANA A B C E Figure 43. A — Old Belize City. Front cover of Thomson, 2004. B — Henri Francois Pittier (1857-1950). Portrait by Sava Botzaris (Caracas, 1942) in the frontispiece of Häsler & Baumann, 2000. C — Meteorological Institute, San José. Courtesy of L.D. Gómez. D — Anastasio Alfaro (1865-1951). Courtesy of his grandson, Rodrigo van der Laat Alfaro. E — Map of Panama by Pittier. In Heckadon-Moreno, 1998: 113. LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009. D
ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidology in Central America are valid names. From the valid names, 163 correspond to Central American species. The Hortus was a limited edition for private distribution, beautifully bound and that used a watercolor paper of heavy weight. The edition was obviously prepared for a select and wealthy list of clients, and was divided into five sections or chapters. Part one is a history of the Veitch family and of the creation of the company and its evolution. Part two is dedicated to short biographies, with interesting notes, of the travelers and collectors sponsored by Veitch & Son, which amount to a total of 22, between 1840 and 1905. Section three is destined to biographical data about the main horticulturists, most of them dedicated to the hybridization of orchids. Section four is the one that is of interest to us. It bears the title of Orchid Species. A list of the principal orchid species introduced by Messrs. Veitch. The list mentions 219 species with its author, origin, often curious notes and a very brief description. Of these species 23 are Central American. Because of the different selection criteria, in Veitch for a wealthy clientele and in Williams based on a populist attitude of orchids for the millions, any analysis or numerical comparison would be useless. It is clear, however, that Central American orchids played a very important role in the early development of professional and amateur orchidology. Costa Rica: the National Museum and the ‘Instituto Físico-Geográfico’ “The interest for natural sciences is proportional to the spiritual development of the nations” Karl Wercklé (In a letter to Dr. N. L. Britton,1901) Botanical exploration of Central America was in the hand of foreigners during the entire century. “Costa Rica attracted more botanists and plant hunters than the neighboring countries. Although the list by Lanjouw (1945) is not complete, it shows that in the XIX century Costa Rica was visited by 10 scientists or collectors, Nicaragua by 5, Panama by 6 and Guatemala by 7. This preference can be explained because the publications by the foreigners who visited 129 the country after Independence were very favorable to Costa Rica” (León, 2002: 154). However, the last two decades of the century showed for the first time the development of a ‘national science’ in Central America. In Costa Rica, “as part of an educational reform aimed at secularizing public education, the government of president Bernardo Soto (1885-1889) hired a group of European academics to staff the two new public high schools in the capital, San José (The ‘Liceo de Costa Rica’ for boys and the ‘Colegio Superior de Señoritas’ for girls, both founded under Soto’s administration). The arrival of these academics marks the beginning of a small scientific renaissance in Costa Rica. Two institutions symbolize this renaissance: the Instituto Físico-Geográfico (IFG) (=‘Physical-Geographical Institute’) and the National Museum, founded in 1887 and 1889, respectively.” Among the hired teachers were Pablo Biolley (1861-1908) and Henri Francois Pittier (1857-1950) (Fig. 43B), who arrived in 1886 and 1887. Pittier lived in Costa Rica until 1905 and during these years conducted a systematic exploration of the Costa Rican flora that had no equal in his time in any country of tropical America. From these efforts resulted the publication of the Primitiae Florae Costaricensis, the first flora of Costa Rica, a work that unfortunately was not concluded 33 . The Primitiae was published in conjunction with a Belgian colleague, Téophile Alexis Durand (1855-1912) and appeared in three volumes and 12 fascicles, published from 1891 to 1905 (Grayum et al., 2004: 12). According to Paul C. Standley, in his introduction to the Flora of Costa Rica: “Henri Pittier has undoubtedly gained a more intimate knowledge of the natural history and especially the botany of Central America and northwestern South America than has ever been possessed by any single person” (Standley, 1937:49). The combined labors of Pittier, Alfaro, Tonduz, Biolley, Wercklé, Brenes and the Brade brothers resulted in the formation of the National Herbarium that counted initially with more than 5,000 species. Citing Standley again, in 1903 the National Herbarium “was unequaled below the Río Grande del Norte” (Standley, 1937:50). Pittier’s other goal was the creation of a map of Costa Rica. Cartographic work began in 1891 and 33 Only the first two volumes of the Primitiae Flora Costaricensis were published. Pittier expected Schlechter to write the fascicle on the orchids, which never happened. LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
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In Belize, the Botanical Station wa
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despotism penetrated the social sec
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ut we believe that they resemble th
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Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (Gómez-Po
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