Bonpland’s (South American) Oaks: a Taxonomical, Nomenclatural, and Etymological Review

Roderick Cameron

Published May 2025 in International Oaks No. 36: 49–68

Abstract

Aimé Bonpland was one of the first botanists to describe Latin American Quercus. He collected oak specimens in Colombia in 1801 and in Mexico in the States of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Veracruz in 1803 and 1804. The oaks he described in Plantae Aequinoctiales were mostly recognized for over a century and half, and about half of them are considered today to be good species. In addition to their description, Bonpland included information about the type locality, etymology, evaluation of their economic and ornamental potential, and other details. In some cases, the taxonomy of his oak species has not been contested, in others there has been discussion about their status in the major treatments of Quercus in the past two centuries. An exploration of the etymology of the epithets he chose allows us to dig deeper into their meaning, while the history of their use in previous names gives an indication of Bonpland’s originality in his choices. Bonpland’s experience on the five-year voyage he undertook with Alexander von Humboldt marked him deeply, and half-way through his life he travelled to southern South America, never to leave that region. Though there were no native oaks there, he did have opportunity to remark on some oaks he saw there, making an intriguing recommendation.

Keywords

Quercus, Latin American oaks, neotropical botany, taxonomy, nomenclature, etymology

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