orchids and orchidology in central america. 500 ... - lankesteriana.org

ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidology in Central America
Schltr. (Tonduz 523, Guatemala) and at least one new
type: Pleurothallis pacayana Schltr. (Tonduz 413 -
Guatemala). The illustrious trio of Swiss naturalists is
remembered in Costa Rica’s geography: the district of
Biolley and the village of Santa María de Pittier, in the
province of Puntarenas, and the peaks of Tonduz and
Pittier, in the mountain range of Talamanca, remind us
of those initial glorious years when the first national
scientific institutions were born.
Other collectors at the end of the XIX century
“Normal people do not collect plants”
Franco Pupulin, 2004 (pers. comm.)
Ludwig Kienast-Zölly grew orchids in his native
Hirslanden (Zurich), Switzerland, and occasionally
sent plants to Reichenbach or to Kew for identification,
among them Epidendrum kienastii Rchb. f., which
was named in his honor. The archives of the Swiss
Confederation indicate that Kienast-Zölly was “Consul
général honoraire” in Mexico, in the period between
1870 and 1875. He lived, according to Boyle, for
many years at Orizaba (Veracruz), “where he collected
orchids with enthusiasm for his own delight.” Boyle
goes on: “an Indian servant gave zealous help, partly,
doubtless, for love for the flowers, but partly also for
love of the master whose ‘bread he had eaten’ from
childhood [...].”Boyle continues telling us the story of
Sobralia kienastiana (which was the pride of Kienast-
Zölly’s collection for many years), a crazy account of
Indian chiefs, Catholic priests, human sacrifice and an
orchid laid before the ‘Blessed Mother’, called ‘the
Devil’s Flower’ (Boyle, 1901: 163-169). Other orchid
species dedicated to Kienast-Zölly were Oncidium
kienastianum Rchb. f., Ponera kienastii Rchb. f. and
Trichopilia kienastiana Rchb. f. Kienast-Zölly was
a contributor to the Gardeners’ Chronicle, where he
wrote on Mexican orchids.
Another Swiss, Rudolf Richard Pfau ( —1897),
founded in San José, Costa Rica, in the final years of
the XIX century, a nursery that sold a great variety of
ornamental plants. He also collected native plants for
exportation. Through his collections we know that he
was also in Panama and Colombia, and at least one of
the new species described from plants sent to Europe
by Pfau came from Mexico: Vanilla pfaviana Rchb. f.
Other species discovered by Pfau were: Epidendrum
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pfavii Rolfe (Pfau s.n., Costa Rica), Pleurothallis pfavii
Rchb.f. (Pfau s.n., Panamá), Sobralia pfavii Schltr.
(Pfau s.n., Costa Rica), Telipogon pfavii Schltr. (Pfau
930, Costa Rica), and Trichocentrum pfavii Rchb.f.
(Pfau 60, Panamá). Pfau wrote the first work published
in Costa Rica about the orchids of this country: New,
Rare and Beautiful Orchids of Costa Rica (ca. 1895), of
greater interest for horticulture than for botany. In this
work, Pfau gives advice as to how to grow and pack
orchids for exportation, and includes a list of the species
he had for sale in his nursery (Fig. 44B). But Pfau’s
voice is also one of the first to address the rising concern
about the destruction of our nature, when he describes
one of our most beautiful orchids: “Cattleya skinneri,
some ten years ago, was a common Orchid all over
Central America; but in the last few years it has been
exported by shiploads; and to-day – at least in Costa
Rica – it has almost become rare” (Pfau, 1895: 6). Pfau
also wrote several articles about Central America and its
orchids, such as The climate of Central America, Orchid
culture (1883), Notes on the fertilization of Orchids
in the Tropics (1894) and Costa Rica and its Orchids
(1896). As did Roezl and Wallis, Pfau sold his plants in
Europe through the agency of Eduard Ortgies in Zurich.
Many of his specimens are part of the Reichenbach
herbarium in Vienna, often accompanied with beautiful
illustrations by Pfau (Fig. 44C).
“By the turn of the century, U.S. scientists had
replaced Europeans as the Instituto’s principal
collaborators. The first was apparently Sereno Watson
(1826-1892), who had made important botanical
explorations in California and went for a short
period of time to Guatemala (1885), but had to stop
due to illness. There he made several collections of
Orchidaceae, among them the type of Pleurothallis
(=Trichosalpinx) blaisdelli S. Watson (Watson, s.n.,
Guatemala), named in honor of his travel companion,
F. E. Blaisdell and Notylia guatemalensis Schltr.
(Watson, s.n., Guatemala). Watson, curator of the Gray
Herbarium at Harvard until his death, was possibly
who interested Donnell Smith in the flora of Central
America” (Williams, 1972: 203).
George Franklin Gaumer (1850-1929), president
of the Natural History Society of Kansas University,
established himself in 1884 in Yucatán, where he
resided until his death. He was also briefly in Honduras
and Guatemala (1885). Gaumer stands out for having
LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.