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

140
year (1884) is his collection of another new species,
Masdevallia anchorifera Rchb. f. (Hübsch s.n.; Costa
Rica, without locality). Bovallius tells us about his
experiences in the Costa Rican rainforest, and about his
encounter with “the almost soporific aroma of Vanilla
… so strong that it almost produced indisposition”.
Sometime later, he traveled from San Juan del Norte
to the Lake of Nicaragua on the San Juan River, and
described in his journal the beauty that he encountered:
“As the sun rose we climbed again on the steamer and
never tired to admire the majestic landscape around
us. Heliconias with white stems could be seen in great
numbers, which made a showy contrast to the dark
green, luxuriant vegetation in the background. Species
of ficus with thick, brilliant leaves, passion flowers
with large white and red flowers, […] leafy bromeliads,
and orchids with colors from purple velvet to the most
delicate waxy yellow, made up a decoration to the
green walls so brilliant and strong that any description
will seem pale against it” (Bovallius, 1977: 171, 207).
The new empIre
“Company no heart”
Popular saying in the Costa Rican
Atlantic regions
The introduction of bananas in Central America
led to the colonization of the Atlantic region and
to the consolidation of the influence of the United
States on the political and economical life of the
young republics. “Banana plantations began during
the decade of 1870, with shipments from the coast of
Honduras that were sold in New Orleans.... The United
Fruit Company was founded in 1899. Together with
the Cuyamel Fruit Company (with which it merged in
1929) and the Standard Fruit and Steamship Company,
it monopolized the banana activities in the whole
Central American area and the Caribbean” (Pérez
Brignoli, 2000: 126-127) (Fig. 45D). The dominance
of the United States increased after the Spanish-
American War (1898), during which Spain lost, besides
the Philippine Islands, Cuba and Puerto Rico, her last
possessions in America. Cuba became a protectorate
and Puerto Rico is presently an “Associated State” of
the United States.
LANKESTERIANA
LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
The ‘Big Stick’ policy
“Speak softly and carry a big stick, and
you will go far.”
African proverb
In 1901 Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), who had
become a hero during the war against Spain, was elected
President of the United States. In 1904 the “Roosevelt
Corollary” was added to the Monroe Doctrine,
declaring that the United States would exercise force
to maintain the stability in the Western Hemisphere.
Directed at Europe, the Roosevelt Corollary stated
that the United States would consider any interference
in the affairs of small, poor Latin American nations a
violation of the Monroe Doctrine. The first application
of the Corollary occurred in 1905, when Roosevelt
sent Marines to the Dominican Republic to manage
the country’s European debts. This was the beginning
of the “Big Stick Policy”. A controversial figure,
Roosevelt was a great conservationist and naturalist,
considered in his time one of the greatest U. S. experts
in large American mammals. During his tenure in the
White House from 1901 to 1909, he designated 150
National Forests, the first 51 Federal Bird Reservations,
5 National Parks, the first 18 National Monuments and
the first 4 National Game Preserves. Altogether, in the
seven-and-one-half years he was in office, he provided
federal protection for almost 230 million acres, a
land area equivalent to that of all the East coast states
from Maine to Florida. In 1916, Roosevelt took part
in an expedition to Brazil, exploring the course of the
Juruena River. The great orchidologist F. C. Hoehne,
who was part of the expeditionary group, found a new
species of Catasetum, that was dedicated to Roosevelt:
Catasetum rooseveltianum Hoehne.The United States
intervened in 1903 in favor of the independence of
Panama, obtaining a contract that would allow them
to begin, one year later, the construction of the canal,
which was inaugurated in 1914. The Canal Zone was
ceded in perpetuity to the United States. Liberal revolts
against the conservative regime of Adolfo Díaz were
on the point of victory when U.S. troops were sent to
Nicaragua to help put them down. After the entry of
American Marines, the U.S. would essentially rule the
country until 1925 through a series of puppet dictators.
In 1926, when a Liberal insurrection was started
by Augusto César Sandino (1895–1934), the U.S.