José Mariano de Conceição Vellozo (also called José Mariano da Conceição Velloso) (1742–1811) was a

Colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...

ian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

who catalogued specimens, for example: '' Cedrela fissilis'' Vell. in ''Florae Fluminensis'' (1825–27; 1831). He was born in

Tiradentes Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (; 12 November 1746 – 21 April 1792), known as Tiradentes (), was a leading member of the Colonial Brazil, colonial Brazilian revolutionary movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira, whose aim was full i ...

, formerly called São José do Rio das Mortes, state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

; and died in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, state of

. While at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the 1790s he worked with

Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada (9 April 1775 – 23 February 1844) was a Brazilian politician who played a leading role in the declaration of Brazil's independence and in the government the following years. He was twice Minister of Finance ...

in translating works on mineralogy and agriculture. The publishing history of ''Florae Fluminensis'' is a most curious one. Encouraged by the Viceroy,

Luiz de Vasconcelos Luiz is a Portuguese name and an alternative form of Luís. It is archaic in Portugal and common in Brazil. Notable examples include: *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer * Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (1936-2020), Brazilian pro ...

, Vellozo spent 25 years studying and collecting the Brazilian flora. In 1790 he voyaged to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, intent on publication of his work, with descriptions of 1640 species and 1700 illustrations, created by Friar Francisco Solano and Antonio Alvares. In 1792 the Portuguese government approved publishing and sent the illustrations to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

for engraving. When 554 plates had been completed the French invaded Portugal, and the Portuguese government relocated to Brazil, Vellozo returning to the monastery in

, where he died in 1811, having left his manuscripts to the Royal Library. They were later discovered by Friar Antonio de Arrábida, and Emperor Pedro I ordered that the work be published. The plates were taken to the eminent lithographer

Senefelder Johann Alois Senefelder (6 November 177126 February 1834) was a German actor and playwright who invented the printing technique of lithography in the 1790s.Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. p 146 Actor ...

in Paris. Pedro I commissioned a print run of 3000 copies, a decision considered excessive by F.J. Knecht, the successor to Senefelder, and various Parisian scientists. The Brazilian government, though, was not to be deterred, and when printing was close to completion they cancelled the contract, because of political turmoil which led to the abdication of Emperor Pedro I. Despite these difficulties the printing run was finished by Knecht and shipped to Brazil, taking up an enormous amount of space in the Government offices. The Brazilian government never did settle their account and only a small number of copies were distributed. In 1888, botanist

Henri Ernest Baillon Henri Ernest Baillon (; 30 November 1827 in Calais – 19 July 1895 in Paris) was a French botanist and physician. Baillon spent his academic career teaching natural history and publishing numerous works on botany. He was appointed to the Lé ...

published '' Vellosiella'', which is a genus of

hemiparasitic A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

(a parasite under natural conditions, but remains

photosynthetic Photosynthesis ( ) is a Biological system, system of biological processes by which Photoautotrophism, photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical ener ...

to at least some degree)

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s from South America, belonging to the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family (biology), family of mostly parasitic plants of the order (biology), order Lamiales, with about 90 genus, genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ...

. It was named in José Mariano de Conceição Vellozo's honor. Then in 1917, botanist Eugenio dos Santos Rangel published '' Mycovellosiella'', a genus of

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

belonging to the family

Mycosphaerellaceae The Mycosphaerellaceae are a family of sac fungi. They affect many common plants, such as eucalyptus, the myrtle family, and the Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the ...

Works

* Dickson James; Vellozo (ed.) ''Plantarum Cryptogamicarum Britanniae Lusitanorum Botanicorum'' (1800) *''Florae Fluminensis'' (1825–27; 1831) Main work *''O Fazendeiro do Brasil'' (1798–1806)

References

Other sources

*Carauta, J. P. P. ''The Text of Vellozo's Flora Fluminensis and Its Effective Date of Publication'' Taxon, Vol. 22, No. 2/3 (May, 1973), pp. 281–284.

External links

José Mariano da Conceição Veloso Biography
* * * * Complete digital facsimiles of volumes 1-5 o
''O fazendeiro do Brazil'' (Lisbon, 1798)
in the John Carter Brown Library's collection on Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Vellozo, Jose Mariano da Conceicao 1742 births 1811 deaths Botanists active in South America Botanists with author abbreviations Brazilian Roman Catholics