José Cuatrecasas Arumí, his legacy and its contributions to the flora del Valle del Cauca

Abstract

Jose Cuatrecasas Arumí (1903–1996) is considered one of the prominent figures of Colombian Botany. His contributions to the knowledge on the flora and vegetation of that country are invaluable, and he was one of the greatest explorers of the Colombian territory of the twentieth century. The US National Herbarium mindfully preserves the archives of this botanist, including publications, correspondence, maps, photographs, journals of expeditions and herbarium specimens. Since 2005 there has been a process of organization, curation, and study of these archives, allowing to synthesize his legacy, rescue material and make inedited information available to the community. Cuatrecasas made 263 publications, including 2.936 new plant names in a total of 89 families. He carried out dozens of expeditions in Colombia between 1932 and 1981, collected nearly 30.000 plant specimens and took more than 15.000 photographs. His explorations brought him to numerous places in all the regions of the country. Also, during his trips he reported cultural aspects of various indigenous ethnic groups. He was one of the pioneers in exploring the flora of the páramos, and became one of the greatest experts in this ecosystem. He made revisions and monographs for genera in 14 botanical families. His splendid contributions to the knowledge of the Asteraceae, made him one of the world’s most important synantherologists, and his proposal of general classification of the vegetation in Colombia is still used as a referent.