MAIN CLIMBING PLANTS OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA AND THEIR APPLICATIONS; EARLY SOURCE OF THE BOTANY IN CAMAGÜEY

Abstract

The significance for ethnobotany in Cuba of a letter written in 1848 by Tomás Pío Betancourt, which was later published by Miguel Rodríguez Ferrer, is valued . It reflects on the particularities of the context and the people involved in its genesis and dissemination. The document, which was part of the efforts made by some aristocrats of Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe to promote culture and develop intellectual work in the city, is noted as the first written in the town by a native author who ventured into the field of botany. It relates 44 species of lianas and trees, while revealing the uses that were made of them in the jurisdiction. The contribution of the text to the knowledge of the phytonymy of Cuban plants, the data it provides to understand the process of naturalization and expansion in the country of two exotic invasive species, as well as the use of elements of the flora for purposes that lost importance  with technological development.