Crossing the Caucasus hunting for plants: the collection itinerary of the botanists Stéphen Sommier and Émile Levier in the summer of 1890

Stéphen Sommier and Émile Levier were eminent botanists and plant collectors (but also ethno-anthropologists, geographers and photographers), best known for their scientific travels in Italy and abroad. This study accurately reconstructs the travel and collection itineraries of a trip through the Caucasus in 1890. The botanical importance of this journey is significant, with over 10,000 specimens collected, more than 1600 taxa identified, and over 250 newly described taxa based on the collected samples. The locations visited are placed in a time sequence on up-to-date georeferenced topographic maps. Furthermore, using dedicated heatmaps, we show the sites where the two explorers collected specimens that were later identified as taxa new to science. These maps will also be useful to botanists, historians, scholars and curators of natural history museums, who work with Caucasian flora and vegetation, ethno-anthropology, history of photography, and landscape.

斯特凡·索米耶（Stéphen Sommier）与埃米尔·勒维耶（Émile Levier）是杰出的植物学家与植物采集者，同时兼具民族人类学家、地理学家及摄影师身份，他们因在意大利及海外开展的科学考察活动而享誉学界。本研究精准重构了二人1890年穿越高加索地区的旅行与采集路线。此次考察的植物学价值斐然：共采集逾10000份植物标本，鉴定出超过1600个分类单元（taxa），并基于采集样本正式描述了250余个科学新类群。研究团队将考察途经点位按时间序列标注于最新的地理参考地形图上。此外，通过专用热图，本研究还可视化呈现了两位探险家采集到后续被鉴定为科学新类群标本的具体位点。上述地图将为研究高加索地区植物区系与植被、民族人类学、摄影史及景观学的植物学家、历史学家、相关学者以及自然历史博物馆策展人提供重要参考价值。