The American plants in Charles de l'Écluse's works: first records in Juan de Castañeda's letters

Abstract

The Flemish botanist Charles de l'Écluse's works contain abundant references to American plants, for example the avocado (Persea americana Mill.), the sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.], the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and the tobáceo (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Although some of these plants were observed by L'Écluse himself during his expedition to the Iberian Península between 1564 and 1565, the majority of the American plants quoted in his works are related with shipments received from several agents around Europe. In the case of Spain, L'Écluse obtained seeds from Seville thanks to the help of Simón de Tovar and Juan de Castañeda. The latter offers in his letters important innovations: Annona cherimola Mill., Indigofera añil LJI. tinctoria L., Annona muricata L., Mammea americana L.. Annona reticulata L., Dioscorea sp., Aloysia citrodora Palau or Manihot spj M. esculenta Crantz. In most of the cases the mention of these plants represente the first record of cultivation in the Old World. A percentage of this material was used by L'Écluse in his Exoticorum libri decem, published in Antwerp in l605.