Richard Evans Schultes: The Young Harvard Botanist Who Walked into the Amazon
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
March 29, 1942
Dearest reader,
On this day, a 26-year-old ethnobotanist named Richard Evans Schultes arrived at the Kofán village of El Conejo, where a shaman welcomed him—a moment that would launch a legendary career in the study of indigenous plants of the Amazon rainforest.
Fresh from earning his Ph.D. at Harvard, Richard’s mission was to uncover indigenous arrow poisons that might serve as muscle relaxants in surgical procedures.
His journey soon blossomed into much more, as he met shamans and learned about the rich medicinal and spiritual uses of plants.
He discovered leaves heated with smoke and placed on foreheads to ease headaches; orchid bulbs chewed for energy during long journeys; shamrock leaves used to soothe sore throats; pepper plant poultices applied to insect bites; and the leaves of a white orchid that could be mashed with sugar to heal heartbreak or a sore tooth—the botanical treasures seemed endless.
Remarkably, his expedition felt charmed from the start. Upon his arrival in Bogotá, he found a new orchid which he pressed between the pages of his passport—a species later named Pacyphyllum schultesii in his honor.
Reflecting on the choices that led him from aspiring biology teacher to groundbreaking ethnobotanist, he wrote:
“I had just earned my Ph.D. at Harvard, and I had been offered two jobs.
One was as a biology master at a private school in New England; the other was a ten-month grant... to go to the Amazon region to identify the plants employed in the many kinds of curare the Indians use for hunting.
I decided on the Amazon—which is fortunate because otherwise, I would probably still be a biology [teacher]!”
Schultes’ legacy is vast: a bridge between cultures, a champion of plant wisdom, and a pioneer warning us of the urgent need to conserve both biodiversity and indigenous knowledge before they vanish like petals on the wind.
