ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Grass collecting and knowledge building: Archiving “lesser” plants in Philippine university herbaria

• In Event: Collection Stories and Indo-Pacific worlds 2

English Abstract

In 1946, in the aftermath of the Pacific War that destroyed the national plant collections in Manila, botanist Jose Vera Santos (1908-1987) initiated the restoration of the University of the Philippines (UP) Herbarium which, in 1999, was officially named after him. He underscored the indispensability of a repository of “plants representing the Philippine flora,” referring to it as “scientific heritage of our national resource” (1984). Santos built the university herbarium mostly from his own grass collections gathered from various parts of the archipelago. Grasses exist throughout the Philippines in all types of vegetation, but he was particularly drawn to local grass species which grew in the highlands. Santos worked with other researchers to help advance grass research and weed science. This paper traces the development of agrostology in the Philippines through the careers of Santos and other Filipino scientists. It examines the political and social nature of collecting process, situating it in the contexts of postcolonial collection building and knowledge generating initiatives. The collections and the botanical manuscripts that emerged from them did not only broaden the understanding of Philippine botany but also foreground the value of “lesser” plants.

Author

• Ruel V. Pagunsan, University of the Philippines-Diliman