Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 13 
completed. Among those groups not covered were gymnosperms and monocots (except 
Araceae and Iridaceae), as well as such important dicot families as Cactaceae, Faga- 
ceae, Lauraceae, Moraceae, Rubiaceae, Sapindaceae, Solanaceae, and Urticaceae. 
Dire economic conditions associated with a drastic drop in the price of coffee even- 
tually forced the Costa Rican government to close the IFGN in 1898 (Eakin, 1999), 
whereupon the Museo Nacional took control of the herbarium. In 1901 the IFGN was 
unexpectedly revived, incorporating the Museo (and thereby realizing one of Pittier’s 
dreams); however, almost no botanical research took place at the institute after this time 
(Eakin, 1999). Years of confrontations, with the government and with his colleagues, ex- 
acted their toll on Pittier, and over discussions about specimens sent to the St. Louis 
World’s Fair in 1904, he resigned as IFGN director (Kandler, 1987: 30; Eakin, 1999). In 
January 1905, Pittier signed on as a botanical explorer for the United States Department 
of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., and deposited his valuable personal herbarium in 
the United States National Herbarium (McCook, 1999). The IFGN soldiered on, under 
Anastasio Alfaro, until 1910, at which time it was officially abolished and the Herbario 
Nacional was again acquired by the Museo Nacional (Kandler, 1987), this time for good. 
For further details about Pittier and this period, see also Conejo G. (1972, 1975). 
Henri Pittier’s era, 1887—1904, “represented a period of exceptional activity in Costa 
Rican science” (Eakin, 1999: 145). In a mere 17 years, the efforts of Pittier and his Eu- 
ropean and Costa Rican colleagues had transformed Costa Rica into the botanically 
most thoroughly explored country in Latin America, with one of the best and largest 
herbaria (Standley, 1937b). They also made a strong run at completing the first coun- 
try flora. Pittier’s final major publication on 
Costa Rican plants, Ensayo sobre las plantas 
usuales de Costa Rica (Pittier, 1908), is replete 
with vital information and remains a standard 
reference in the form of the augmented second 
edition (Pittier, 1957), published posthumously. 
The IFGN team also undertook groundbreaking 
work in the fields of climatology, cartography, 
agronomy, and ethnography; however, it must 
also be said that they collaborated minimally 
with other Latin American scientists, and pro- 
vided scientific training to only a few Costa Ri- 
cans (Eakin, 1999). 
Fueled by Pittier’s exuberance, botanical 
exploration of Costa Rica retained consider- 
able momentum even following his departure. 
Biolley and Tonduz continued on until 1908 
. 7 A. Alfaro, J. Child, Karl Wercklé 
and 1920, respectively. Karl (Carlos) Wercklé (1860-1924) 
(1860-1924), an eccentric German horticultur- Courtesy Museo Nacional de Costa Rica 
