Mexican engineer and botanist. José González Ortega spent much of his life in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, initially working for the Dirección de Estudios Biológicos and later becoming self employed. As perhaps the most prolific plant collector in Mexico during this period, he amassed some 7000 examples from Sinaloa, Durango and Nayarit. His specimens, which were of a particularly high quality, were studied by L.A. Riley in England and P.C. Standley in the U.S.A. González Ortega also maintained an important private collection which was kept in the Preparatory School of Mazatlán after his death but has since faded into obscurity. His numerous publications on the local vegetation covered a range of topics, particularly the Cactaceae and trees of Mexico and the flora of Sinaloa, including a catalogue of common names for this state in 1929 and a contribution to the flora of the Islas Marías (Nayarit).

Sources:
I. K. Langman, 1964, A selected guide to the literature on the flowering plants of Mexico
J. Rzedowski, G. Calderón de Rzedowski and A. Butanda, 2009, Los principales colectores de plantas activos en México entre 1700 y 1930.