Les récoltes botaniques en Guyane française; géographie historique de la découverte de la flore de Guyane française

Abstract How did botanists and naturalists prospect French Guyana for over two centuries? Rather than drawing on travel tales, this analysis focuses on localisation of botanical prospecting (herbariums and other collections). Results show that various exploration strategies were used over time and space: lengthy and far reaching explorations opening new areas but yielding poor collections; heavy and comprehensive explorations of a river or a mountain yielding sizeable collections, but those were often not repeated; short but repeated missions on the same site, often along the coast, accumulating information; permanent stations yielding a wide range of species which allowed for near exhaustive inventories. But vast areas are still void after 235 years of botanical inventories.