Cloud forests and quinine: José Celestino Mutis’ botanical expedition
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
April 6, 1732
Dearest reader,
On this day, we celebrate the birth of José Celestino Mutis, a Spanish priest, botanist, and mathematician whose remarkable dedication and vision shaped the understanding of New Granada’s natural world, what we now know as Colombia and neighboring lands.
In 1783, he became the architect of the Royal Botanical Expedition of the Kingdom of Granada, a quest that spanned nearly 50 years. His monumental work involved collecting and illustrating an astonishing wealth of plant species in the Colombian lands, laying the foundation for botanical science in the region.
Imagine the vastness of his undertaking—gathering and categorizing over 24,000 plant specimens, creating an impressive botanical library, and overseeing a lush herbarium second in size only to that of the famed Joseph Banks.
José Celestino Mutis was not only an ardent scientist but a masterful organizer who enlisted and trained over 40 local artists, producing more than 6,500 exquisite pieces of botanical art. These paintings, mostly folio-sized and painted with pigments from local dyes, remained largely unseen for centuries, finally emerging in a celebrated exhibit at Kew Gardens in 2010 and now preserved at the Botanical Garden in Madrid.
Most notably, Mutis’s deep study of the Cinchona tree (Cinchona officinalis) living in the cloud forests of northern South America had a profound impact on medicine. The bark, rich in quinine, became a foundational treatment for debilitating diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. During his lifetime, Cinchona was even believed to possess the power to cure all diseases, and the Spanish crown eagerly encouraged his investigations. His work extended beyond botany into medicine, as he also championed early smallpox inoculation efforts in Colombia.
José Celestino Mutis’s legacy blooms in many ways—his portrait graces Colombia's 200-peso banknote, and the Bogotá Botanical Garden bears his name as a tribute to his lifelong devotion.
Dear reader, as you nurture your own gardens, what might you discover by embracing Mutis’s blend of science, art, and relentless curiosity?
How does his vision inspire you to look deeper and cherish the natural beauty growing quietly around you?
As you wander among your own plants, dearest gardener, may you be inspired by Mutis’s relentless curiosity and devotion, nurturing your garden as both a place of beauty and a treasury of living knowledge.
