Paper short abstract:

Triana combined his career as a diplomat with documenting the flora of Colombia in the XIX Century. His participation in the national expedition 'La Comisión Corográfica', allowed him to become an expert on useful plants and to receive the great prize of the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867.

Paper long abstract:

During the late XIXth Century, José Jerónimo Triana, one of the most prominent botanists for the country to date, traversed the nation and collected plants (8.000 vouchers) during the geographic expedition 'La Comisión Corográfica'. This project intended to strengthen the recognition of the United States of Colombia as a nation (as it was known at the time), and define production areas for promoting economic growth. The country entered to the international market in this period, through the exportation of goods mostly derived from plants: cinchona, rubber, coffee and tobacco. Nevertheless, new and diverse sources of exploitation were permanently needed. As a doctor, Triana was educated in healthcare and tried to find through plants several solutions for pain and diseases for that time. As a botanist, he travelled to France to improve his studies and proposed a comprehensive review of the flora of Colombia to the government, which led him to publish crucial contributions in collaboration with important European authors. Afterwards, being a diplomatic representative of Colombia in France, he managed to survive during politically instable periods by developing own-branded medicines (e.g. Triana syrup, José patch) derived from Colombian plants, and displaying some others in French exhibitions. A catalogue preserved in the National Archives of Colombia and France for the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867, reveals an important set of native useful plants with uses of economic importance, some now unknown. A comparison between past and current plant uses based in the 131 species displayed in this catalogue is presented in this talk.