Expeditions of Pehr Löfling

Pehr Löfling prepared for his expedition to Spain while in Stockholm, Sweden. According to Wilfred Blunt, in Linnaeus The Compleat Naturalist, members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences showered Löfling with gifts of scientific instruments; and the Spanish Ambassador arranged payment for his voyage, and pocket money for enjoying it. Löfling sailed to Lisbon, Portugal, and then journeyed overland to Madrid, Spain, where he spent the next two years.

Journey of Pehr Löfling - Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, and South America

Spain, Europe

While in Spain, Löfling learned Spanish, and worked with local botanists, including:

• Don Joseph Ortega – chief apothecary to the army, and secretary of the physical academy at Madrid
• Don Minuart – chief apothecary to the hospitals
• Don Quer – first surgeon to the king (and owner of a comprehensive botanical garden)
• Don Christoval Velez – apothecary and examiner of the College of Physicians (and owner of a large collection of botanical books)

Löfling wisely named four newly-discovered Spanish plants after each of them. He also gathered specimens for about 1300 species, and recorded his findings. He sent regular reports and correspondence to Carl Linnaeus, including many specimens for the herbarium in Uppsala. Löfling kept a journal of his journey called Iter Hispanicum (Spanish Journey).

Cumana, South America (now Venezuela)

After two years in Spain, the Spanish Ministry offered Löfling the position of head naturalist and botanist on an expedition to South America, called the Spanish Great Border Drawing Expedition to South America. His staff included two young physicians, and two draftsmen. They sailed from Cádiz, Spain on January 28, 1754, and arrived in Cumana in April 1754.

According to Jean Bernard Bossu, in Travels Through Louisiana, Löfling “found a new world, every plant he beheld was new, and their great number gave him employment from morning to night.” Because of the harsh climate, they travelled by sea or river, which was considered safer than travelling overland. Löfling collected specimens; gave lectures on botany to his pupils; and examined, documented, and drew plants. He collected 600 species, including about 250 species new to Linnaeus.

In 1755, after a two or three month excursion to the Mission of Curoni, Löfling and most of his company fell sick with fever upon their return to Cumana. He was plagued by repeated fever attacks and deteriorating health over the next months, and died at the Mission of Merercuri in February 22, 1756. He was 27. His collection of South American plant specimens was lost, but Linnaeus edited Löfling’s account of his journey in Iter Hispanicum in 1758 as a tribute. Löfling's life was cut short, but his presence on the excursion helped establish the tradition of including a naturalist on expeditions.

Learn more:

Travels Through Louisiana, Book 2, by Jean Bernard Bossu, Captain in the French Marines - an abstract of “useful articles” by Pehr Löfling is included:

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