Flora of Gustavo Teixeira poetic work

Abstract

Gustavo Teixeira produced poetry between 1908 and 1937 making significant use of botanic themes. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the flora mentioned in his works. The poems were read three times so that plant names were collected. The poem fragment where the plant name was uploaded in a spread-sheet. Botanic identification was made with the use of dictionaries and specialized literature. 483 references of plant names divided into 90 different “species” were registered. “Rosa” – Rose, with 130 citations, was the most cited name, it was followed by “Lírio” –Lily, (60 citations); “Violeta” –Violet, (42); “Jasmim” – Jasmine, (28); “Açucena (or Cecém)”, a kind of Lily, (15); “Craveiro (or Cravo)” – Carnation, (13); “Camélia” – Camelia, (10), and “Urze” –Heather, (9). Only three botanic families have five or more citations: six of Asteraceae and Leguminosae and Poaceae (five each). Foreign plant names introduced in Brazil were 63.3%, while only 12.2% were native plant names.