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

ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidology in Central America
-1893) 17 , working for Low, collected in Mexico
between 1835 and 1840, especially in the region of
Veracruz, discovering an important number of new
species of Orchidaceae: Laelia barkeriana Knowles
& Westc. (‘Plant cultivated by G. Barker, sent to
him by J. Henchman from the vicinity of Jalapa’),
Oncidium luridum var. henchmannii Knowles &
Westc. (Henchmann s.n.), Maxillaria henchmannii
Hook. (Henchmann s.n.), Maxillaria cucullata
Lindl. (‘a native of Equinoctial America, whence
it is said to have been brought by Mr. Henchman’)
(Fig. 24C), Humboldtia octomerioides (Lindl.)
Kuntze (Henchmann s.n.), and Stanhopea tigrina
Bateman ex Lindl. (‘Henchman s.n., 1835, Habitat
in Mexico, propè urbem Xalapam’). He also worked
for George Barker and had been before in Venezuela,
from where we know of at least one collection,
Chysis aurea Lindl. (‘in the valley of Cumanacoa,
in Venezuela, Mr. Henchman s.n.’).
Much later, in 1864, Captain John M. Dow mentions
a collector by the name of Macgee, who collected
orchids for Low in Guatemala, but we have no other
information about him (Letter from Dow to Skinner,
Feb. 20, 1864).
The genus Barkeria was first described by Knowles
and Westcott in 1838 and named in honour of George
Barker (1776-1845) of Springfield, England, who
had imported a plant from Mexico. Barker was a
pioneer in importing orchids, mainly from Mexico,
among which many new species were discovered.
A few of them are: Trichopilia tortilis Lindl. (G.
Barker s.n., Mexico), Pleurothallis (=Restrepiella)
ophiocephala Lindl. (Mexico, Loddiges & Barker
s.n.), Odontoglossum cordatum Lindl. (‘George
Barker s.n., flowered in cultivation, originally from
Mexico’), Microstylis excavata Lindl. (Mexico, Mr.
Barker s.n.), and Laelia furfuracea Lindl. (Karwinski,
Oaxaca). Barker is undoubtedly an important figure
in the introduction of orchids from our region to
Europe, in the early years after the independence
of the Central American countries from Spain. “As
a botanist, Mr. Barker was much distinguished. He
bestowed considerable attention on the cultivation of
orchidaceous plants, of which he had a collection that
is believed to have been almost unique, and certainly
was unsurpassed in value by that of any private
horticulturist in Europe” (Urban, 1846: 324-325).
John Ross (?—?), who collected orchids between
1837-1840 in Mexico, sent many plants to Barker,
among them several species of Odontoglossum for
which Schlechter, in 1916, proposed the name of
Rossioglossum in his honor (Schlechter, 1916: 153).
The name was formally published as a new genus by
Garay and Kennedy in 1976. Another species named
for him was Odontoglossum rossii Lindl., today
Rhynchostele rossii (Lindl.) Soto Arenas y Salazar
(‘A charming plant, sent to Mr. Barker from Mexico
by his collector Mr. Ross, after whom it is named’).
“Ross started in 1837, but his collection did not reach
England till the following year. It included the beautiful
Odontoglossum rossii and Peristeria (Acineta) barkeri,
the latter being discovered in a dark ravine in the
neighbourhood of Xalapa” (Anonymous, 1931: 364).
Other collections by Ross include Peristeria barkeri
Bateman (Ross s.n., Jalapa), Galeandra baueri Lindl.
(‘Ross s.n., Mexico’), Laelia majalis Lindl. (‘Habitat
in Mexico - Schiede, Hartweg, Ross’), Epidendrum
aloifolium L. and Chysis laevis Lindl. (‘Habitat in
Mexico - Ross’).
The British naval expeditions to the coasts of
Central America, the most important being those of
H.M. S. Conway (1822), H.M.S. Blossom (1827) and of
H.M.S. Sulphur (1836), had undoubtedly also scientific
purposes, but their main goal was the geographical
exploration and the construction of reliable maps
preparing for a future domination of the region and the
control of the canal routes.
The decade which began in 1840 “is the epoch of
maximum English power in Central America. Great
Britain would try to confront the growing power of
the United States and both nations would choose the
border region between Costa Rica and Nicaragua as the
ground where they would test their forces...” (Obregón
Quesada, 1993: 75). Great Britain, who already had a
stronghold in Belize, pretended in addition the control
of the access to the San Juan river.
“A new period of activity set in, and continued
almost unbroken for many years; but few of the
numerous travelers had received a scientific training,
hence the botanical results were by no means so
satisfactory as they might have been. Indeed, the
principal object of many of these travelers was the
introduction of living plants into European gardens”
(Hemsley, 1887: 123).
LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
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