Studies in the capparaceae XXIV: Edward Palmer in Corumbá, Brazil and the first collection of Capparis coimbrana

The new Bolivian endemic,Capparis coimbrana, was first collected by the 22-year-old Edward Palmer while a member of the U.S. Navy’s “Exploration of the River La Plata” expedition, supervised under Captain T.J. Page from 1853–1856. Since the plant specimen lacks a specific geographic location, it was necessary to interpret carefully the cryptic, penciled notes that accompany it, and to correlate these with the published itinerary of the expedition’s sailing vessel, theWater Witch. This historical research revealed that the plant must have been collected on 2 Dec 1853 at Corumbá, Matto Grosso, Brazil, which was then a tiny village just across the Río Paraguay from Puerto Suárez, Bolivia. This site is at the very edge of the species' current range.