Orchids in Costa Rica Introduction to a Series in Four Parts by CARLOS OSSENBACH F
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Orchids in Costa Rica Introduction to a Series in Four Parts BY CARLOS OSSENBACH F. PUPULIN F. DISCOVERED BY CHRISTOPHER Columbus during his fourth voyage to America in 1502, Costa Rica, the “Rich Coast,” received its name because the remarkable golden ornaments worn by the natives led the Spaniards to believe they had arrived at a land rich in gold and other precious metals. Nothing could be further from the truth. Barren of mineral resources, Costa Rica languished for centuries as the Cinderella of the Spanish American Empire, barely supporting a small population that, by the time of independence in 1821, had not yet reached 75,000 inhabitants. But yesterday’s shortcomings became today’s blessings. The peaceful colonial agricultural society gave way to a solid democracy, and modern Costa Rica has truly become a Rich Coast, boasting more than 5 percent of the world’s total biodiversity in a territory of less than 20,000 square miles. Such richness is also reflected in orchid diversity, with an astonishing 1,400 native orchid species. In a series of four articles, readers will learn how most of this orchid bonanza was revealed during the last century, through the work by Rudolf Schlechter; the Golden Age of those two giants who were PUPULIN F. Oakes Ames and Charles H. Lankester; the figures of Rafael Lucas Rodríguez, ABOVE LEFT An emblematic name, Pleurothallis phyllocardioides, is a South Dora Emilia Mora and Joaquín García; Amparoa costaricensis was collected by American species ranging north to Costa and the magnificent work of the Wercklé at La Palma. Rica. Lankester Botanical Garden of the ABOVE Pleurothallis acostaei, which OPPOSITE A tree with orchids and other University of Costa Rica. some authors consider a synonym of epiphytes on Costa Rica’s Pacifc Coast. 26 ORCHIDS JANUARY 2006 WWW.AOS.ORG CARLOS OSSENBACH WWW.AOS.ORG JANUARY 2006 ORCHIDS 27 Orchids in Costa Rica Part I: The Era of Rudolf Schlechter BY CARLOS OSSENBACH “Without a good memory it is of no use trying to be a botanist; one had better give it up and be a merchant.” — Rudolf Schlechter THE ABOVE QUOTE IS CHAR- acteristic of the egoistic self-confidence of the great German orchidologist Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (1872–1925), a man of driving ambition, a great capacity for work and a remarkable memory, of whom it is said that at an early age had set for himself the goal of describing at least one new orchid every day [Figure 1]. Schlechter was born in Berlin, where he served an apprenticeship as a horticulturist. At 19 years of age he left Europe for the beginning of botanical explorations that carried him to Africa, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, Borneo, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Australia. Of utmost importance were his explorations of New Guinea (1901– 1902 and 1906–1909) where he discovered more than 1,100 new species of Orchidaceae, described in his work Die Orchidaceen von Deutsch-Neu- Guinea, published in 1914. After having published in 1914 his studies of the orchids of the Andean countries in South America, in 1918 Schlechter wrote a general recapitulation of the orchids of Central America in his work Kritische Aufzählung der bisher aus Zentral-Amerika bekanntgewordenen Orchidaceen (Critical enumeration of the orchids which so far are known from Central America), where he enumerated 132 genera of orchids with 1,325 species for Central America and Mexico. LEFT Rudolf Schlechter (1872–1925) in the Herbarium of the Botanical Museum in Berlin, 1909. OPPOSITE A beautiful miniature, the warm-growing Notylia pittieri is found near sea level in the southern Osa Peninsula, COURTESY OF DR. N. KILIAN, ARCHIVES BGBM BERLIN-DAHLEM near the border with Panama. 28 ORCHIDS JANUARY 2006 WWW.AOS.ORG F. PUPULIN F. WWW.AOS.ORG JANUARY 2006 ORCHIDS 29 From 1921 onward, Schlechter held concluded. While working on his the position of curator of the herbarium Primitiae he sent a great number of of the Berlin Botanical Garden, orchid specimens (collected by himself, amassing an enormous collection of Biolley, Tonduz and Wercklé) to his Orchidaceae. Schlechter described, in friend Théophile Durand in Brussels, his Orchidaceae novae et criticae who passed them on to Schlechter in (1906–1907) and in the first issues of Berlin for identification. It was the famous Repertorium Specierum therefore Durand who became re- Novarum Regni Vegetabilis (1908– sponsible for Schlechter’s lifelong 1911), new orchid species from Costa interest in the orchids of Costa Rica. Rica for the first time. He had received Among Pittier’s collections were the these first Costa Rican specimens types of Lockhartia pittieri Schltr., through the efforts of Henri Francois PUPULIN F. Notylia pittieri Schltr. and Pleuro- Pittier (1857–1950), a Swiss teacher thallis pittieri Schltr. (= Pths. who came to the country in 1887 as part Institute. Pittier lived in Costa Rica until floribunda Poepp. and Endl.). After of a group of European academics hired 1905 and during these years conducted initial differences (Schlechter for some by the government of president a systematic exploration of the Costa time refused to return the material sent Bernardo Soto to staff the two new Rican flora that had no equal in his by Pittier), Pittier worked together with public high schools in the capital, San time in any country of tropical America. Schlechter until the death of the From these efforts resulted the José. But Pittier did not limit himself to German scientist in 1925. In 1906, teaching. Soon after his arrival he was publication of the Primitiae Florae Schlechter dedicated a new genus of among the founders of the National Costaricensis, the first flora of Costa Orchidaceae to Pittier: Pittierella Museum and the Meteorological Rica, a work that unfortunately was not (today a synonym of Cryptocentrum). Pablo Biolley (1861–1908) had Herbaria and Type Specimens arrived in Costa Rica one year before Pittier as part of the same group HERBARIA are plant libraries: of Swiss teachers hired by the Facilities serving as repositories government. Biolley established him- designed to ensure long-term self permanently in Costa Rica, preservation of scientific plant samples, obtaining Costa Rican nationality and generally referred to as specimens. marrying a Costa Rican. He died in 1908 Specimens are pressed and the dried at the age of 46. Biolley accompanied plants are then mounted (glued) on a Pittier during many of his explorations stiff sheet of paper. A label, which and made important contributions to generally includes the Latin name of the the knowledge of Costa Rican flora. To plant, the locality and date of him we owe the discovery of the types collection, name of the collector and of Masdevallia ecaudata Schltr. (= information on habitat, is attached in Masd. tubuliflora Ames), Maxillaria the lower right hand corner of the sheet. biolleyi (Schltr.) L.O. Williams and Herbarium specimens are useful as Telipogon biolleyi Schltr. references for plant identification and Shortly after his arrival in Costa for the determination of plant locations Rica in 1887, Pittier had obtained from and ranges, abundance, habit, and the government the necessary funding flowering and fruiting periods. A type for the assignment of a person in specimen (or simply a “type”) is the charge of the botanical service of the specimen (actually preserved within an Museum, for which he chose Adolphe herbarium) that served as the base for Tonduz (1862–1921), who was assis- the description and the designation of tant at the botanical garden of ABOVE The type specimen of Systelo- the scientific name of a new species. Lausanne, Switzerland, and arrived in glossum acuminatum Ames and C. Herbaria have a history dating back Costa Rica in June of 1889. For the next Schweinf. Multiple labels indicate several to at least the 16th century. The first two decades, botanical exploration of herbaria were in book form, pressed and taxonomists have examined the specimen. Costa Rica was not only closely related dried plants being glued onto blank with Tonduz, but depended heavily on pages. The earliest known herbaria of York Botanical Garden (6.5 million), him. Costa Rica owes to Tonduz the this kind were made at the universities the Missouri Botanical Garden (5.2 discovery of many new orchid species, of Bologna, Italy (1570); Basel, million) and the Harvard University most of them described by Schlechter. Switzerland (1588); and Oxford, Herbaria (5 milllion). The famous Worthy of mention, among others, are Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames is England (1621). The largest herbaria in Maxillaria dendrobioides (Schltr.) today part of the herbaria at Harvard the world are at the Muséum Nationale L.O. Williams, Masdevallia tonduzii and contains about 131,000 specimens, d’Historie Naturelle in Paris (8.9 Woolward, Pleurothallis tonduzii million specimens), the Royal Botanical of which some 10,000 are type Schltr. and Oncidium tonduzii Schltr. Gardens, Kew (7 million), the New specimens. — Carlos Ossenbach. (= Onc. baueri Lindl.). 30 ORCHIDS JANUARY 2006 WWW.AOS.ORG OPPOSITE Telipogon biolleyi, a common species, is one of the few telipogons that can be cultivated under the normal conditions of a temperate greenhouse. ABOVE Henri Pittier (1857–1950), the great explorer of the flora of Costa Rica, PUPULIN F. in a portrait by Sava Botzaris, 1942. ABOVE RIGHT Lockhartia pittieri, from the genus commonly known as braided orchids, is another species named in honor of the great Swiss botanist Henri Pittier. It was originally described from a Panamanian plant, but is known today from most of Central America. RIGHT Maxillaria biolleyi is a common species of the high mountains of Costa Rica. It was originally described by Schlechter as “Ornithidium biolleyi.” The genus name was derived from the Greek ornithos (= bird), because the red flowers have some similarity with a bird’s head.