Exploring Pico de São Tomé (São Tomé and Príncipe), a hotspot for collecting plant specimens during the colonial period: collectors and itineraries

Abstract

The peak Pico de São Tomé on the island of São Tomé (São Tomé and Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea) is a locality where many specimens that became types of vascular plant names were collected during colonial times. Determining the routes the collectors took to ascend the peak will help determine some collecting localities. Gustav Mann was the first collector to explore the region; his itinerary is analysed and mapped based on his correspondence. The itineraries of ten further expeditions that ascended the peak are analysed. Collections that became types of vascular plant species names are recorded.