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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

192 Henry Teuscher and the Montreal Botanical Garden. The Montreal Botanical Garden was born of the dream of the man with both a religious and scientific vocation, Brother Marie-Victorin, born Conrad Kirouack (1885-1944). Passionately inspired by nature, he had founded the Botanical Institute of the Université de Montréal in 1920 and dreamed of creating a great botanical garden for Montrealers, a plan he made public in 1925. Six years later, after much hard work to convince both politicians and members of the local scientific community, his plan finally took shape. When the Garden was founded in 1931, Québec was in the grips of one of the worst crises in its history. Thousands of Montrealers were out of work and, rather than simply paying these relief money, Mayor Camilien Houde came up with the idea of employing them to built the Garden With the assistance of Henry (Heinrich) Teuscher (1891-1984) (Fig. 56B), a landscape architect of German origin trained in Europe and the United States and a renowned horticulturalist and botanist, Brother Marie- Victorin’s dream finally became a reality. A man of many talents, Teuscher drew up the first plan of the Garden. In 1936, he was officially appointed Superintendent and Chief Horticulturalist, and later Curator of the Garden, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. He also laid out several of the exhibition greenhouses and assembled some of the Garden’s major plant collections. His ideas as a botanist and garden architect were best expressed in his “Programme d’un jardin botanique idéal” (1940). Always trying to expand the Garden’s collections, Teuscher traveled in search for orchids to Ecuador (1951 and 1956) and to Panama in 1964. One of his collections in Ecuador gave birth to a new genus named in his honor: Teuscheria Garay, with the type species Teuscheria cornucopia Garay (Teuscher s.n., Ecuador). Teuscher corresponded frequently and received material from the best collectors in our region, such as Harry Dunn in Panama, and years later Clarence Horich in Costa Rica. In addition, he traveled to Venezuela, Ecuador, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and Hawaii. Several orchid species were dedicated to Teuscher, among them: Epidendrum teuscherianum A.D. Hawkes, Rodriguezia teuscheri Garay and Telipogon teuscheri Garay. Between 1952 and 1977, Teuscher published 287 articles in the most important orchid journals of his time. The most beautiful plant in the annual orchid show of the Montreal Orchid LANKESTERIANA LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009. Society is awarded with the “Grand prix d’excellence Henry Teuscher”. Henry Teuscher will remain, for many orchidologists across the glove, as the symbol of Montreal’s orchidology (Boutot, 1984: 4). The Flora of Guatemala “The exceedingly varied types of soil and topography and diverse geological history of the country, ranging from ancient mountain masses connected with North America to relatively youthful volcanic areas, combined with marked altitudinal and climatic variations - hot desert to cold alpine regions - have given Guatemala the richest flora in all Central America with an estimated total of 8,000 species of vascular plants”. (Standley & Steyermark, 1945: 275) The project of the Flora of Guatemala became one of the most ambitious enterprises of the Field Museum of Natural History in the 1930s. It was again the prolific Paul C. Standley who in 1938 undertook this enormous work. Standley was later joined in the project by Julian Steyermark, who joined the Museum staff in 1937 and not only made numerous valuable collections in Guatemala, but contributed also to the published flora. Finally, Louis O. Williams joined the staff in 1960 and supervised the completion of the Flora of Guatemala (thirteen parts, 6,528 pages). The treatise of the orchids for the Flora was written by Oakes Ames and Donovan Stewart Correll, a work that would not have been possible without the contribution of an important number of collectors who must be mentioned as precursors to what is still today the main published work on the Orchidaceae of Guatemala. Margaret Ward Lewis collected in Guatemala from 1928 to 1942. “When I first came to the tropics some twelve years ago it was to live in a little Fruit Company headquarters town where the seven houses were arranged in a hollow square and every front porch was a potential observatory. Exploration of the surrounding ‘bush’ was the only escape to a private life... I thought collecting in one family was all I could encompass as a beginner and I had unique opportunities to collect. My husband was at that time Chief Engineer for the [United] Fruit Company and I was in on all felling for a railroad across Montúfar Flats. In a little while
ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidology in Central America everybody knew I was interested in orchids and plants -hundreds of duplicates- came in from all sides... Since 1931 except for several visits to the States I have lived here in the City and our collection was considerably amplified by Sunday expeditions and the notes made more useful by taking up photography. From time to time I have made the acquaintance of people in different parts of the Republic who send me anything new they find and even the section foremen on the railroad know enough about orchids to send me any they find in clearing the right-of-way. So no one has had a better chance than I to collect …” (In a letter from M. Lewis to L. O. Williams, January, 1940). Lewis’ collections and diagnostic photographs of Guatemalan orchids were of great importance to Ames’ and Correll’s work. In Guatemala she met Steyermark, mentioned in several of her letters, and collected with J. R. Johnston in 1940. Among her collections are Cypripedium irapeanum Llave & Lex. (Lewis 151), Phragmipedium caudatum (Lindl.) Rolfe (Lewis 127), Habenaria monorrhiza (Sw.) Rchb. f. (Lewis 211), Elleanthus capitatus (R. Br.) Rchb. f. (Lewis 168), Sobralia fragans Lindl. (Lewis 320) and Spiranthes amabilis Ames (Lewis 164), as well as at least six new species: Pleurothallis lewisae Ames (Lewis 2), Spiranthes obtecta S. Schweinf. (Lewis 191), Stanhopea lewisae Ames & Correll (Lewis 140), Cranichis hieroglyphica Ames & Correll (Lewis 154), Scaphyglottis minutiflora Ames & Correll (Lewis 105), and Lepanthes excedens Ames & Correll (Lewis 105). Margaret Ward Lewis’ love for Guatemala and its orchids were best described by herself in her article Guatemalan Interlude (1954), that she finished with the sentence: “Orchids are where you find them and I hope, where you leave them” (Ward-Lewis, 1954: 184-190). Mercedes Aguilar Hidalgo (1905-), a specialist in Phanerogams, collected in 1935 in Guatemala and Belize. Some of her specimens are Habenaria pauciflora (Lindl.) Rchb. f. (M. Aguilar 208), Habenaria strictissima Rchb. f. (M. Aguilar 156), Epidendrum cochleatum L. (M. Aguilar 334), Epidendrum skinneri Batem. ex Lindl. (M. Aguilar 143) and Epidendrum stamfordianum Batem. (M. Aguilar 462). Biologist, naturalist and pioneer of canopy biology, Marston Bates (1906-1974) made a few collections of orchids in Guatemala in 1935, including Stelis ovatilabia Schltr. (Bates 19), Stelis purpurascens A. 193 Rich. & Gal. (Bates 13), Epidendrum boothi (Lindl.) L.O. Williams (Bates 12) and Epidendrum lindleyanum (Batem.) Rchb. f. (Bates 11). Bates was better known as a philosopher of natural sciences and for his books: The Nature of Natural History (1951), Man in nature (1961), and The Forest and the Sea (1960). Walter Conrad Leopold Muenscher (1891- 1963) collected in 1937 Sobralia macrantha Lindl. (Muenscher 12442), Epidendrum ochraceum Lindl. (Muenscher 12548), Dichaea intermedia Ames & Correll (Muenscher 12531), Dichaea muricata (Sw.) Lindl. (Muenscher 12543) and Epidendrum repens Cogn. (Muenscher 12542). Muenscher, New York State’s ‘Wizard of Weeds’, was Professor of Botany at Cornell University from 1923 to 1954. He had special interests in wetlands, poisonous plants, and trees, and was the author of more than 125 articles and several books in addition to Keys to Woody Plants (1950). One of Lundell’s main collaborators was Elías Contreras, with whom he collected in Petén. Some of his orchid specimens are Habenaria bractescens Lindl. (Contreras 1771), Habenaria distans Griseb. (Contreras 2976), Vanilla hartii Rolfe (Contreras 3063), Elleanthus linifolius Presl. (Contreras 2753) and Sobralia fragans Lindl. (Contreras 2836). John Robert Johnston (1880-1953) collected in Guatemala from 1937 to 1941. Years before he had botanized in Venezuela (1901-1903) and had written several articles on the flora of the coastal areas and the main islands. He collected Cypripedium irapeanum Llave & Lex. (Johnston 1645), Habenaria crassicornis Lindl. (Johnston 155), Habenaria entomantha (Llave & Lex.) Lindl. (Johnston 920), Habenaria quinqueseta (Michx.) Sw. (Johnston 1564), Habenaria repens Nutt. (Johnston 1400), Crybe rosea Lindl. (Johnston 1983) and the type specimens of Leochilus johnstonii Ames & Correll (Johnston 1864, Guatemala), and Epidendrum altícola Ames & Correll (Johnston 1472, Guatemala). Francis Welles Hunnewell (1880-1964) was in Guatemala from1937 to1941. “In recent years, .... Hunnewell has made a small but discriminating collection, primarly in five of the Pacific coast departments” (Ames & Correll, 1985: viii). Among his orchid collections we find Ponthieva triloba Schltr (Hunnewell 14668), Spiranthes parasitica A. Rich. & Gal. (Hunnewell 14675), Spiranthes pyramidalis Lindl. (Hunnewell 14672), Pleurothallis grobyi Batem. ex Lindl. (Hunnewell LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
Page 1 and 2:
LANKESTERIANA 9(1-2): 1-268. 2009.
Page 3 and 4:
In Belize, the Botanical Station wa
Page 5 and 6:
ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidolo
Page 7 and 8:
despotism penetrated the social sec
Page 9 and 10:
A B C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orc
Page 11 and 12:
ut we believe that they resemble th
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (Gómez-Po
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
A ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchido
Page 21 and 22:
C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchido
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchido
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
The expedition split in two and in
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
A C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchi
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
A C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchi
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
B A ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchi
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
A B ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchi
Page 75 and 76:
The German-Belgian connection ossen
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
William Walker in Central America o
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
The Mexican Empire of Maximilian of
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Other travelers in Central America
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142: ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidolo
Page 147 and 148: A C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchi
Page 167 and 168: A ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchido
Page 185 and 186: institution in the research of the
Page 191: ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidolo
Page 213 and 214: A B C ossenbaCh — Orchids and orc
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?