Resumen

LINDORF, Helga. Notices on the austrian expedition in a Venezuelan document dated 1787 and comments on Botanical names Linked to the collectors. Acta Bot. Venez. [online]. 2004, vol.27, n.1, pp.57-64. ISSN 0084-5906.

In April 1783 an expedition led by the Austrian botanist and professor of Natural History, Franz Joseph Märter, was sent to America by Emperor Joseph II of Austria. The purpose of this trip was to enlarge the collections of the museums, zoos and botanical gardens of the Imperial Court. Besides the leader, the expedition also counted with the presence of a doctor, a painter and the Imperial gardeners, Franz Bredemeyer and Franz Boos. At later stages of the journey, specifically during the stays in Haiti and Venezuela, there appeared another gardener, called Josef Schücht, who apparently formed no part of the original list of expedition members.     Papers dealing with botanical collectors make reference to the presence of Bredemeyer and Schücht in Venezuela. However, Boos is not mentioned in regard with this country, even though there are reports of samples collected by him in this land. The existence of a document, dated 1787, held in the "Archivo General de la Nación" (the National Archives), Caracas, Venezuela, in which both Boos and Schücht are mentioned, could signify proof of their presence in Venezuelan territory. In this present work a partial transcription of the above mentioned document is included. Besides this, pertinent historical observations are made about the collecting endeavors of the Austrian naturalists, as well as regarding the botanical names linked to their surnames.

Palabras clave : Austrian Expedition; Märter; Bredemayer; Boos; Schücht; Venezuela.