Darwinism and Botany

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Darwin’s theories on some of the botanists and other professionals connected with the plant kingdom such as forestry experts, although, in the case of the latter, their work was frequently focused on subjects like entomology, mineralogy, or geography. We will try to show the lines of thought followed by both groups and their endorsement, whether whole-hearted or lukewarm, of the principles of adaptation, natural selection, struggle for existence as well as other currents they espoused. Our analysis will be mostly descriptive, as this is only a preliminary study not intended to encompass all the bibliography available on a subject which has scarcely been studied from this perspective.