Herb Harvest Fall Festival Seminar October 6 & 7, 2017 Kathleen Connole The Plant Explorers Of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean

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1 The Plant Explorers Of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean The region of the world that includes Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, contains many diverse bioregions. It is home to tropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical coniferous forests, grasslands, shrublands, and cool mountainous forests. Located between the South American continent and the North American Continent, the tropical regions are home to many plants that are common in South America, and the montane regions share some plants which are also native to North America. The earliest explorers of what became known as the New World, were Europeans from the Old World, very familiar individuals much studied and written about, sent by the great trading powers of the 15 th century. Columbus was a plant explorer in a roundabout way, as he sought a new route to the lands where precious spices originated. Cortes was sent to conquer the lands that had been claimed by Columbus for the Spanish crown, to acquire riches in the form of minerals and any plants of economic value. These men encountered many strange and unusual (to them) plants that were used by the indigenous peoples for food and medicine. Some of the food plants were readily accepted, others were strongly rejected, at least at first. The period known as Post-Conquest, following Cortés defeat of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico, began in The plant explorers that followed were missionaries, sent to convert the natives to Christianity. They became knowledgeable about the plants that the natives ate and used medicinally. Physicians, who were of necessity also trained as botanists and apothecaries, were sent by the Spanish king to obtain knowledge of New World medicinal plants. This era of plant exploration continued throughout the 16 th century.

2 A new era of plant exploration began in the 1700 s, known as the Golden Age of Botany. For most of this century, New World plant exploration took place in the Caribbean islands (then more commonly known as the West Indies), primarily sent by the colonial powers England and France. Central America, including Mexico ( New Spain ), was under control of Spain and therefore only those permitted by the Spanish crown were allowed access. A renaissance in scientific knowledge was occurring, as new plants flooded into Europe from explorers journeys around the globe. One exception to the Spanish restrictions on allowing exploration of the lands known as New Spain would be the ground-breaking scientific expeditions of Alexander von Humboldt of Prussia and Aimé Bonpland of France, While Humboldt s intention was to travel from South America to the Philippines and Asia, circumstances beyond his control resulted in visits to Cuba, (then back to South America) and finally to Mexico, where he ended up staying much longer than he had initially planned. Humboldt remarked that compared to South America, Mexico seemed much more civilized ; and there was less interest in exploring the wild lands. He instead made a study of the geology, the mining districts, and the agriculture of this Spanish colony, and created new maps of the area. He wrote extensively about the monuments and antiquities, the history of Tenochtilán (the site the great Mexico City by then) and sketched ancient ruins and artifacts of the Maya and Aztec. Of course, he and Bonpland could not resist botanizing every chance they had, and adding to their immense herbarium of American plants that they had been collecting for 5 years. He spent a brief time in North America before returning home to Germany. By the 1800 s, Europe, especially England, was in the full grip of Botanamania. Gardeners eagerly grabbed up any new and exotic introduction that the thriving nurseries of the day could obtain, cultivate, and propagate. These nurserymen were an integral part of the story; the

3 ones who succeeded eventually figured out that they would need to learn much about the native habitats of the plants that they received, in order to help them survive and thrive. They sent out a special breed of plant hunters, who braved much hardship and danger to collect and send back live plants, seeds, and roots. These had to be carefully packed, and then (hopefully) tended to aboard ships as they made their way to Europe (many were lost). In addition, they collected extensive herbarium specimens, which the botanists of Europe studied and classified - thousands of new genera and species. Botanical artists also played a very important role in preserving the history of these new plants. A new era of plant introduction was ushered in with the invention of the Wardian Case. This made possible the transfer of delicate tropicals safely, no matter how harsh the conditions on board ships might be. These stories sound very familiar, as when we learned of the Plant Explorers of South America in Only some of the names are different. There are so many to learn about that it seems endless but only a few of the personal life stories and details of their adventures were written down and preserved. These make the most interesting reading! Therefore, I invite anyone who is fascinated by this topic to pick up a book and read! Or, of course, do a google search! You will be amazed

4 Bibliography Helferich, Gerard. Humboldt s Cosmos. Penguin Group, Howell, Catherine Herbert. Flora Mirabilis. National Geographic, Humboldt, Alexander von. Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1811, London. Accessed 9/28/17 Humboldt, Alexander von. Concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orne & Brown, J. Murray & H Colburn, 1814, London. archive.org. Internet Archive, Getty Research Institute, Accessed 9/26/17 Humboldt, Alexander von. The Island of Cuba. Derby & Jackson, 1856, New York. Accessed 9/28/17 León-Portílla, Miguel. Bernardino de Sahagún, First Anthropologist. University of Oklahoma Press, Lack, H.Walter. Alexander von Humboldt and the Exploration of the Americas. Prestel Publishing, Lemmon, Kenneth. The Golden Age of Plant Hunters. Phoenix House, Reinikka, Merle A A History of the Orchid. Timber Press Siepel, Kevin H. Conquistador Voices: the Spanish Conquest of the Americas as recounted largely by the participants. Spruce Tree Press, Whittle, Tyler. The Plant Hunters. Lyons & Burford, 1997.

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