Philippine Journal of Science
142:(3) 119-133, Special Issue
ISSN 0031 - 7683
Biogeographical Notes on the Moss Floras of Bicol Peninsula in Luzon and the Catanduanes Islands, The Philippines
Virgilio C. Linis
Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University
1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8528 Japan
ABSTRACT
This paper deals with an early documented account of a putative species of a marine alga called “Gosò“ that was common in Luzon and Cebu islands. The paper was published in 1704 and found among an obscurely known compilation of Philippine materia medica. The same account also provides evidence for the extensive exploitation of seaweeds and other marine products for commerce in the Philippines in 16th and 17th centuries.
INTRODUCTION
The historical starting point for botanical studies in the Philippines has traditionally been attributed to the Augustinian monk, Father Francisco Manuel Blanco, O.S.A. (1778-1845), whose seminal work “Flora de
Filipinas,” was published for the first time in 1837. The same work was subsequently edited and published posthumously in 1845 and reissued in an illustrated edition between 1877 and 1883. Recently, this traditional Blanco publication date has been found to be antedated by an earlier starting point of Philippine botany attributed to the lesser known work of the Manila-based Jesuit missionary, Georg Joseph Kamel, S.J. (1661-1706), who had studied Philippine materia medica and maintained correspondence with some of Europe’s prominent botanists and naturalists throughout his decades-long stay in colonial Philippines
(Reyes 2009). . . . . . read more
