Flora Huayaquilensis sive descriptiones et icones plantarum Huayaquilensium secundum systema linnaeanum digestae

Description:

Text Spanish. Tomus I - Descriptiones: An extensive historical introduction to the life and work of Juan José Tafalla Navascués, together with detailed botanical descriptions corresponding to each illustration; Tomus II - Icones: High-quality facsimile reproductions of 211 plant illustrations.

Flora Huayaquilensis is the collective title given to the botanical work of the Spanish botanist Juan José Tafalla Navascués (1755-1811) during his years in South America. In 1785, Tafalla joined the celebrated botanical expedition of Hipólito Ruiz and José Pavón to Peru and Chile. When Ruiz and Pavón returned to Spain in 1788, Tafalla remained, continuing the collection and dispatch of plant specimens to Madrid. Between 1799 and 1802, he undertook extensive fieldwork in Guayaquil, Ecuador, research that formed the basis of the Flora Huayaquilensis. From 1803 to 1804, he explored the Andean regions of Ecuador in collaboration with botanist Juan Manzanilla and artist Xavier Cortés. Much of Ruiz and Pavón’s later published work drew upon Tafalla’s specimens and meticulous records. Tafalla died in Lima on 1 October 1811, his Guayaquil flora remaining unpublished for nearly two centuries. In 1989, his manuscripts, long housed in the archives of the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid, were brought to light by historian Eduardo Estrella (1941-1996) and issued in the present edition.

Condition

Folio, (424x285mm), unbound leaves, as issued, in orig. Solander box. Fine.