Abstract

GONZALEZ, FAVIO  and  PABON-MORA, NATALIA. From Henslow to Hooker: Darwin and the Early Evolutionary Thought in Botany. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.14, suppl.1, pp.311-336. ISSN 0120-548X.

Despite Darwin s botanical works are not sufficiently known, they provided a large amount of critical, empirical evidence in favor of the darwinian revolution. This paper describes the development of such works in connection to the influence of two of Darwin s mentors in botany, J. S. Henslow and J. D. Hooker. Besides numerous articles, field notes, extensive correspondence, and Darwin s main books, The Origin of Species and Natural Selection, he wrote seven books related to different botanical issues, including orchid pollination, morphology and physiology of climbers, domestication, insectivorous plants, cross-and self-pollination, floral forms, and plant movements. Each of these volumes became classic on each topic. The introduction of the evolutionary theory in plant systematics had a positive effect by increasing the systems of classification during the 70 years following the publication of The Origin, which is in close relation to the still unresolved questions about the origin and early diversification of angiosperms. In addition, we review the influence of Darwin s contributions in European and American authors, as well as in current disciplines such as biogeography, reproductive biology, citology and mechanisms of heredity in the plant cell, plant teratology, plant domestication, and the new integration of evolution, genetics and development under the discipline known as evo-devo.

Keywords : C. R. Darwin; evo-devo; history of botany; J. S. Henslow; J. D. Hooker.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )