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

ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidology in Central America
a man of exceptional native talent [... ] Wercklé did
not distinguish himself for his herbarium specimens,
although it is true that a good many specimens of his
collecting are found in herbaria. His favorite way
of preserving an interesting plant was to roll it into
a bundle and stuff it in a pocket, where it remained
indefinitely. It is thus only too easy sometimes to
recognize in the herbarium his specimens, without
even looking at the label” (Standley, 1926: 221).
Among the new species discovered by Wercklé
we find: Epidendrum carolii Schltr. (Wercklé 101),
Epidendrum flexicaule Schltr. (C. Wercklé s.n.),
Epidendrum prostratum Schltr. (Wercklé - 683 in Herb.
O. Jiménez), Epilyna jimenezii Schltr. (Wercklé – 670 in
Herb. O. Jiménez), Habenaria plantantheroides Schltr.
(C. Wercklé s.n.), Masdevallia cyathogastra Schltr.
(Wercklé - 842 in Herb. O. Jiménez), Masdevallia
diantha Schltr. (Wercklé- 673 & 843 in Herb. O.
Jiménez), Pleurothallis bifalcis Schltr. (C. Wercklé
s.n.), Scaphyglottis jimenezii Schltr. (Wercklé - 682 in
Herb. O. Jiménez), Sigmatostalix hymenantha Schltr.
(C. Wercklé s.n.), Stelis nutantiflora Schltr. (Wercklé -
840 in Herb. O. Jiménez), and Stelis rhodochila Schltr.
(Wercklé - 839, 845 & 857 in Herb. O. Jiménez).
Many others were dedicated to him by Schlechter
and other authors: Chondrorhyncha wercklei (Schltr.)
C. Schweinf., Dichaea wercklei Schltr., Elleanthus
wercklei Schltr., Epidendrum wercklei Schltr.,
Eriopsis wercklei Schltr., Habenaria wercklei Schltr.,
Kefersteinia wercklei Schltr., Lepanthes wercklei
Schltr., Malaxis wercklei Ames, Maxillaria wercklei
(Schltr.) L. O. Williams, Oncidium wercklei Schltr.,
Pleurothallis wercklei Schltr., Scaphyglottis wercklei
Schltr., Schiedeella wercklei (Schltr.) Garay, and
Sobralia wercklei (Schltr.) L. O. Williams .
At some point Ames wanted to hire Wercklé as a
collector and sought information from Lankester, who
answered: “Wercklé is a dipsomaniac, an appalling
wreck of a fine intelligence, but has still a good
local knowledge and might be of use yet” (Letter to
Ames, October 11, 1922). “Towards the end of his
life, Wercklé forgot all moderation and like any other
alcoholic, roamed through the city, in rags and without
a place to live... Some tell that he spend the nights in an
unoccupied niche of the General Cemetery, to which
he gained access at nightfall, others that he passed
his deliriums in a shed in the property of the Zeledón
149
family, or now and then in the always open house
of Alfredo Brade, a German gardener who always
showed towards him hospitality and warmth” (Gómez,
1978: 364).
Alberto Manuel Brenes (1870-1948) (Fig. 48A) was
born in San Ramón, Alajuela, and studied in Costa Rica
until 1890, when he left Central America for Europe on
a government grant. He spent a short time in Paris and
from there went on to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he
studied during one year at the university followed by
a time in Geneva, where he stayed until 1898, taking
courses in Botany and Natural History (Jenny, 2000:
20). Botanist of the National Museum for many years,
he continued botanical explorations after Pittier left
the country in 1903. When Standley wrote his Flora
of Costa Rica in 1937, Brenes had accumulated an
herbarium of over 20,000 specimens which, for the
quantity and quality of its materials, did not find its equal
in Central America. His collections came primarily from
the region of San Ramón de Alajuela. From there he sent
Schlechter a large collection of orchids in 1922. In 1919
Schlechter made contact with Brenes after receiving
a letter from Tonduz, suggesting that orchids should
be collected for a Costa Rican orchid flora (Jenny,
2000: 20). Schlechter described this collection in his
Additamenta ad Orchideologiam Costaricensem under
the title of Orchidaceae Brenesianae and highlighted
the good quality of the included specimens. Only the
collections organized by doña Amparo de Zeledón could
stand up to those of Brenes, among which Schlechter
identified some 90 new species”. In 1920 Brenes
became the head of the section of botany at the Museo
Nacional, a position he held until 1935.
Schlechter named a new genus after him: Brenesia
(Fig. 48B) and a great number of species, among which
the following are worthy to be mentioned: Barbosella
brenesii Schltr., Brachystele brenesii (Schltr.) Schltr.,
Campylocentrum brenesii Schltr., Catasetum brenesii
Schltr., Dichaea brenesii Schltr., Elleanthus albertii
Schltr., Encyclia brenesii Schltr., Epidendrum brenesii
Schltr., Habenaria brenesii Schltr., Lepanthes brenesii
Schltr., Maxillaria brenesii Schltr., Notylia brenesii
Schltr., Oncidium brenesii Schltr., Pleurothallis brenesii
Schltr., Ponthieva brenesii Schltr., Stelis brenesii Schltr.,
and Trichocentrum brenesii Schltr.
Of difficult character, Brenes often avoided contact
with his botanist colleagues, and rejected several times
LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.