The american legate. Introduction of american plants into
Spain
Valdés, B.
Ars Pharm.37;(3);595-676, (1996)
Key words: Plants, Expedition, BotanistsAbstract
Interest for American plant species starded from the very beginning of the discovery of America. Many American crops, medicinal and ornamental plants were already introduced in Spain during the XVI century, specially from Sevilla which held for years the monopoly of trade with the New World. An important role was played in this sense by several XVI century Sevillan prominent physicians. But it was in the XVII century when a wide scale program to introduce into Spain American plants was developed by the Spanish Crown through the organization of several scientific expeditions to S, C and NW America, and the sending of living plants to Spain to be acclimatized in Spanish botanical gardems: A new program for the introduction of plants from the Americas was developed in Sevilla recently with the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of 1992 to celebrate the fifth century of the discovery of America.
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