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

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Lindl. (Millspaugh 1797, Island of Cozumel) and
Oncidium cebolleta (Jacq.) Sw. (Millspaugh 1617,
Pisté, Yucatan). He described his collections in 1900.
Millspaugh was at that time already famous for his
work American Medicinal Plants (1887).
Other travelers in Central America (II): 1870-1900.
We continue with accounts of travels through Central
America, written by persons who came for various
motives (never primarily as botanists).
In 1874, the German Helmuth Polakowsky (1847-
1917) came to Costa Rica, hired to teach lessons of
Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Mineralogy and Zoology
at the National Institute of San José. Polakowsky
traveled throughout the country and left various
detailed accounts, among which “La República de
Costa Rica” stands out (Polakowsky, 1940). In addition
to his comments about the Vanilla that Carmiol had in
his house, he writes in his books about the common
plants of Costa Rica: “The largest number of parasites
belong to the family of the orchids and Bromeliads.
Among the first I mention the genus Epidendrum (there
are many species), Lelia [sic], Oncidium, Trichopilae
[sic], Odontoglossum and the rarest Catleyas [sic]
(such as Dowiana and Stanhopea [sic]). In no private
garden have I seen these plants growing in large
numbers; at the most one or two hang in the corridors
of the ‘haciendas’ growing on a piece of wood, and
nobody knows or chooses the species with particularly
beautiful flowers” (Polakowsky, 1940). Specimens of
Epidendrum ciliare L., Epidendrum paniculatum Ruiz
& Pav. and Stelis sp. were collected by Polakowsky
in 1875 (Polakowsky 382) and are today in the orchid
collection of the Natural History Museum in London.
The British traveler John W. Boddam-Whetham
(1843-?) arrived at the Guatemalan port of San José
in October of 1875. From the capital he made ‘some
interesting trips, east and west’, and continued then to
Cobán in Alta Verapaz. He went on over the mountains
to the region of Petén and finally by canoe on the
Usumacinta River to the island of Carmen in the Gulf
of Mexico.
Two years later Boddam-Whetham published an
account of his travels with the title of Across Central
America (Boddam-Whetham, 1877). In his narrative,
orchids are frequently mentioned. Between Guatemala
and Esquipulas, he finds “many of the large trees [...]
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LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
adorned with a most beautiful rose-coloured orchid
-I think a Lycaste Skinneri- whose large flowers
gave a wonderful glow to the grey trunk and green
leaves among which they were perched. It appeared
to me that they had been transplanted, as they were
seldom far from the ground, and generally on trees
overhanging a native hut; to an Indian an orchid is a
sacred flower, and as none of the trees in that locality,
except those near houses, were similarly decorated, it
is not improbable that superstition rather than a love
of gardening accounted for their appearance.” And he
complains: “Guatemala is rich in these lovely plants
-the élite of the floral kingdom- and every day I had
cause to regret my limited knowledge of botany; and
after I had left the country, when showing what I
had collected and describing what I had not, I often
found I had taken the chaff and left the grain”. Once in
Esquipulas, he describes the procession of the pilgrims
who came to the village to worship the Holy Christ:
“They were all decked with garlands of the tillandsia,
and in their hands they carried brilliant orchids. Some of
the different companies carried spikes of the beautiful
rose-coloured orchid I have before mentioned; others
carried a species of Epidendrum whose rich orange
flowers contrasted with the creamy blossoms of an
Odontoglot which seemed a great favourite. Panicles
of one of the commonest orchids in Guatemala -an
Oncidium- were used in great profusion, and their long
drooping stalks covered with small yellow flowers
looked very graceful”. Riding back to Guatemala he
“entered a beautiful country [which] was a region of
orchids, and each species seemed to have its favourite
locality. In one spot a Stanhopea flourished, the
flowers of this kind being a bright yellow, barred with
chocolate. In another, the trees bore no other species,
except one whose flowers were shaped like a China
rose and of a delicate pink hue. I gathered twenty of
these blossoms off one tree, and I recalled to mind that
once or twice in London I had paid five shillings for a
single specimen”. He continued and crossed the border
to Honduras, wanting to inspect the ruins of Copán.
“The forest was damp and hot, and for that reason a
wild garden of ferns, orchids, and creepers...”
Some weeks later, in the first days of 1876, he rides
from Guatemala to Cobán. Close to this city, amidst
a terrible down-pour, he crosses a river and finds a
place that “in fine weather must be a perfect Paradise