Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada

The Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada (Spanish: Expedición Botánica al Virreinato de Nueva Granada) took place between 1783 and 1816 in the territories of New Granada, covering present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Peru and northern Brazil and western Guyana.

The project was rejected twice before being finally approved in 1783 by King Charles III of Spain, and was headed by José Celestino Mutis, a Spanish priest, who was also a botanist, mathematician and teacher.

Before the King sanctioned the expedition, Mutis had already proposed it on two occasions, in 1763 and 1764 respectively, but he had been ignored. However, years later, after he retired to live in Mariquita, he met Archbishop and Viceroy Antonio Caballero y Góngora, who made a third proposal on his behalf that was finally accepted by the King, who named Mutis first botanist and astronomer of the botanical expedition.

Since the first failed proposals Mutis had maintained regular contacts with European scientists, among which was Carolus Linnaeus. When it was known that the expedition was finally under way it aroused the interest of the European scientific community at the time. On 1784 Mutis was appointed member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine. His news about American plants were eagerly awaited by botanists in Europe, keen on learning about the new species of plants. On his "Memorial Instructivo y Curioso de la Corte de Madrid" he had reported his conclusions on the medicinal uses of certain plant species of New Granada, and informed the Spanish Crown about the possibility of trading with tea leaves coming from Bogotá, whose properties he praised.

On April 29, 1783 the expedition was formally launched with a team composed by botanists Eloy Valenzuela and Fray Diego García, geographers Bruno Landete and Jose Camblor, painters Pablo Antonio Garcia, Francisco Javier Matiz, Anthony and Nicholas Cortez, Vicente Sánchez, Antonio Barrionuevo, Vicente Silva, his assistant Salvador Rizo Blanco, foreman Roque Gutierrez, several collectors and a messenger.

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