Flora Huayaquilensis: The Botanical Expedition of Juan José Tafalla Navascués 1799-1808
One of the first expeditions to South America by a Spaniard to document plants was done by
Juan Tafalla whose works were lost for 200 years. Dr. Estrella was in the Archives of the
Royal Botanic Gardens in Madrid Spain in 1985 where he found the documentary of the "Division IV" corresponding to the expedition of
Ruiz and Pavon in
Peru and
Chile, Dr. Estrella found a considerable amount of descriptions of plants whose origin corresponded to places belonging to the
Royal Audience of Quito. The work in the Royal Botanic Gardens archive was a daunting task and took almost three years to complete. In
Madrid Spain, Dr. Estrella continued his research in the Archive. The evidence mounted and was such that it was impossible to deny that at least for a few years botanist Juan Tafalla and his companions had traveled through Ecuador. The folios were numbered and contained the mysterious initials FH and differed from others that did not correspond to the flora of the Royal Court, and had the initials FP. Still nothing was clear, but there was sufficient evidence to consider that was the trail of something important and this led to the publishing of the
Flora Huayaquilensis and after 200 years, finally publishing the hard work and giving the credit to the expedition of Juan Tafalla. ==Bibliography==