OKCHID COLLECTING IN CENTRAL AMERICA 



By Paul C. Standley 



[With 26 Plates] 

 INTRODUCTION 



Central America is a paradise for the orchid hunter. According 

 to a recent estimate there have been reported from the whole globe 

 15,000 species of these curious and fascinating plants, and nearly 

 1,000 have been recorded from a single Central American country, 

 Costa Rica. From the other republics — Panama, Nicaragua, Sal- 

 vador, Plonduras, and Guatemala — about the s'ame number of addi- 

 tional species have been listed, and Mexico is known to possess at 

 least 500 more. 



It has been the writer's privilege to spend two recent winters in 

 Central America for the purpose of making botanic'al collections, 

 and during this period particular attention has been devoted to 

 orchids. Although many of the localities visited have been found 

 deficient in these plants, others, and above all the mountains of Cost'a 

 Rica, have furnished a rich harvest. 



Central America was one of the first regions from which tropical 

 orchids were introduced into the hothouses of Europe. Some of the 

 more striking Mexican species had been described and figured in the 

 celebrated Thesaurus published by Hernandez in 1651, the first work 

 treating of the natural history of tropical North America, but 

 nothing was made known concerning the flora of Central America 

 until a much later date. Probably the first botanical collector 

 to visit Central America was Luis Nee, a Frenchman by birth, 

 botanist of the celebrated Spanish voyage around the world under 

 the navigator Malaspina during the years 1789 to 1794. Nee visited 

 Panama, and is known to have collected plants upon Ancon Hill, 

 the landmark of the Pacific end of the Canal. Several of the most 

 common tropical American plants were first described from speci- 

 mens obtained by him at this locality. 



It was not until after the first quarter of the nineteenth century 

 that any botanical work of importance was carried on in Central 

 America, or any progress made toward a knowledge of the orchids. 



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