Alexander!von Humboldt's legacy in Venezuela

After nearly one hundred years since Humboldt's return to Europe from the Americas, there is little about the famous traveler and naturalist that has not been written on already. A close scrutiny of his scientific legacy, however, reveals important scientific findings of his travels that had not been fully analysed in the past, namely his contributions to the study of palms and his influence on explorers and naturalists who followed his path in the American tropics. In the following essay, I explore in particular Humboldt's contributions to the knowledge of the peach palm (Bactris gasipaes H.B.K.) and his relationship with the French chemist Jean Batiste Boussingault, who visited Venezuela in 1822-1823.