exploraciones botánicas en el Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Córdoba, Argentina (1874-1887)

The objective of the research is to describe the development of botanicalexplorations organized by the National Academy of Sciences in the period1874-1887 through the Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences in threeaspects: the purposes of the explorers in the framework of the Argentinegovernment’s interest in natural resources; the relationship betweenacademics and the different local informants about the flora; and thedifferent scientific results. The conclusions show that between 1870 and1887 the Academy was an important institution for the beginning of thescientific prospecting of Argentine flora through foreign and nationalacademics, an issue that generated the bases for a greater understanding ofthe national vegetation, its comparison with other floras of the world andtheir economic use. For the appreciation of Botany as a useful science to theArgentine State, academics linked their scientific projects with governmentinterests for the appropriation of plant resources taking advantage of localknowledge about the flora, an issue that materialized in listings, tables,tables, collections and specialized books. The originality of the article lies inthe analysis of the set of botanical explorations in Argentina through thebulletin in the foundational years of the Academy, since historiography hasbeen overlooked in this publication and its relationship with the history ofthe national Botany. The source of the research consists of the reports of fiveacademics, both foreign and national: Georg Hieronymus, Paul GuntherLorentz, Ludwig Brackebusch, Fritz Kurtz y Eduardo L. Holmberg.