Search

Neste artigo, buscamos compreender como a botânica se estabeleceu enquanto área de estudo e pesquisa no Museu Paulista entre os anos de 1895 e 1927. O foco recai na constituição da Seção de Botânica, evidenciando as redes de relações pessoais e institucionais para a formação das coleções e manutenção do horto. A análise transitou entre a história institucional e as práticas científicas, e possibilitou um olhar para o cotidiano dos trabalhos no Museu e, em especial, para as práticas de botânica. O estudo redimensiona o espaço dedicado à botânica no Museu Paulista e mostra como, ao longo dos anos, diversas ações ora impulsionaram, ora refrearam os estudos da flora, em uma instituição que também passava por transformações e redefinia suas finalidades.

Na primeira metade do século XX, Frederico Carlos Hoehne (1882-1959) realizou um conjunto de pesquisas sobre Botânica e suas aplicações na agricultura tropical e atuou na formação e estruturação de algumas das mais importantes instituições científicas no Brasil, como o Instituto Butantã, o Museu do Ipiranga, o Instituto Biológico e o Instituto de Botânica. Além de ter sido um dos pioneiros da proteção florestal no Brasil, Hoehne procurou, através de uma expressiva produção bibliográfica, ampliar o conhecimento sobre as aplicações da Botânica e das espécies nativas, por exemplo, na agropecuária, na educação, na arborização urbana e de rodovias, no urbanismo e no paisagismo.

Abstract In this article we reflect on the development of an educational fieldwork conducted along the Ipiranga River, in which we bring the debates concerning History of Science and Environmental Education closer together, by problematizing the social and environmental issues in the city of São Paulo in a contextualized and critical way. To that end, we established the limits for the hydrographic basin by highlighting the headwaters of the Ipiranga River and the changes it has undergone, as well as the political, sanitary and environmental meanings throughout the 20th Century. We associated the environmental issues with the history of two important institutions located along the river: The Botanical Garden and the Museu Paulista’s [São Paulo Museum] arboretum. We highlighted the practices, techniques and scientific representations that were developed on the sites, by valuing them as cultural heritage of the Brazilian science.

Over its lifetime, the Butantan Institute (in São Paulo) has developed some activities focusing on the study of botany. Within the Institute, the Oswald Cruz Botanical Garden was created amidst the discussions about public health and focused on the study and cultivation of medicinal and poisonous plants. Botanist Frederico Carlos Hoehne, who led the initiative, was recognized by his studies in the area and by his performance in governmental institutions of São Paulo at the time. In this paper, we analyze Hoehne’s performance while he was in charge of the Botanical Garden from 1917 to 1924. This study approaches the activities performed in this institution and aims to understand the routine of scientific practices based on the cultivations and on establishing a network with interlocutors. The analysis of the annual reports produced by the Butantan Institute and Hoehne’s publications show how the established objectives were transformed into actions on a daily basis, highlighting the interests related to health and the different uses of the cultivated specimens. The results indicate that, although governmental orientations were important, they were not exclusively considered. The interlocutors of the Botanical Garden, Hoehne’s preferences and the limits imposed by material conditions influenced and helped to delimit what had been done.