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as responsible for the orchid collection and with the goal
to raise it to a level even higher than the collection at
Kew. During Pring’s 63 years in Saint Louis, the orchid
collection of Missouri increased from 300 to over 50,000
plants. When the First World Orchid Conference was
inaugurated in Saint Louis in 1954, Pring, then 69 years of
age, had the honor to preside. Pring made trips to remote
locations in Mexico and in 1923 visited the Panama Canal
Zone, where he spent six months and met Powell. Pring
collected together with A. A. Hunter in Chiriquí, trying
to increase Powell’s collection (Pring, 1927). Famous
for one of the world’s finest collections of living plants, a
great interest arose for Panama in the Garden, especially
because of the orchid collection of C. W. Powell and his
offer to donate it to the institution. In 1926 the Missouri
Botanical Garden created a ‘tropical station’ at the foot
of Ancón Hill, on lands granted by the Canal Zone
government. Powell retired this same year and when his
collection passed into the custody of the Tropical Station,
he was appointed as its first director (Fig. 52B).
A. A. Hunter, Powell’s great friend, took over
Powell’s position in 1927 and kept it until his death in
1936. Due to the high costs of operation, the Tropical
Station was transferred in 1939 to the Canal Zone
Government. Paul Allen was its last director. During
its almost 13 years of existence, the Tropical Station
supplied the greenhouses in Saint Louis with a constant
flow of living plants. Powell’s collection marked
the beginning of the Garden’s reputation in orchid
horticulture. Among its collections of plants no less
than 75 new orchid species were described, the majority
of which had been collected by Hunter and Allen.
George Pring returned to Panama in 1928 and made
several collections of orchids, among others: Catasetum
warczewitzii Lindl. & Paxt., Acineta chrysantha (Morr.)
Lindl., Oncidium anthocrene Rchb. f., Peristeria elata
Hook., and Odontoglossum schlieperianum Rchb. f.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
“Let us propose to ourselves to find an area
of tropical forest, large enough and unaltered,
where men of science can come to study.”
James Zetek (Heckadon-Moreno, 1998: 141)
“When the Panama Canal was built, Lake Gatún
was formed by the impounding of the Chagres River,
the waters flooded the valleys and the hills became
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islands. The highest peak, Barro Colorado…, became
the largest island of the new lake” (Heckadon-Moreno,
1998: 139). The island was declared a protected area in
1923 and a small biological station was established on
it. The Institute for the Research of Tropical America
was established in order to manage the island and the
station. Diverse scientific and academic institutions
of the United States, including the Smithsonian
Institution, were part of the Institute, that was directed
by the National Research Council. James Zetek was
appointed as the resident administrator.
James Zetek (1886-1959), North American
entomologist of Czech origin, had arrived in
Panama in 1911 to research on malaria. A passionate
conservationist, Zetek fought during twelve years
for support, in Panama and abroad, to convert Barro
Colorado into a natural park, an area of jungle in
good condition, with many plants and animals, where
the naturalists could expand their knowledge in all
areas of the biological sciences. With the support of
Panamanian President, Belisario Porras, and of the
Governor of the Canal Zone, Jay J. Morrow, as well
as of Thomas Barbour, from Harvard University,
Zetek finally reached his goal (Croat, 1978: 49).
From 1923 to 1956, Zetek would be the dedicated
and visionary administrator of the Biological Station
at Barro Colorado. His work was paramount. Fighting
with limited budgets, surviving the years of the Great
Depression and World War II, Zetek was called, with
justice, the ‘guardian of Barro Colorado’ (Fig. 52C).
In 1946 the United States Congress transferred Barro
Colorado to the Smithsonian Institution, that has
managed it ever since. Zetek continued as resident
administrator until his retirement in 1956. In 1964 the
station was named “Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute”.
A large number of researchers have passed through
Barro Colorado and by 1930, one hundred eighteen
scientific papers had been published by naturalists
who had studied on the island. Besides being an
excellent administrator, Zetek continued with his
scientific activities, becoming interested also in plants.
“He collected fewer plants than most collectors of his
time but his collections are among the most selective.
Though Zetek was not a botanist by profession,
his correspondence with Standley indicates that he
had a keen botanical awareness” (Croat, 1978: 51).