Organisation(s)
COI (main), LISC (main), B, BM, BR, K, LISFA, LISJC (currently LISC), LM (currently LMA), LMA, LUA, M, MO, NY, P, SRGH
Countries
Southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, ZimbabweEurope: PortugalTropical Africa: Sao Tome and Principe, Zambia
Associate(s)
Carrisso, Luis Wettnich (1886-1937) (co-collector)
D'Orey, José Diogo Sampayo de Albuquerque (1910-) (co-collector)
Exell, Arthur Wallis (1901-1993) (co-collector)
Wild, Hiram (1917-1982) (co-collector)
Gossweiler, John (1873-1952) (co-collector)
Biography
Francisco d'Ascencão Mendonça carried out extensive work on the flora of Mozambique and Angola. He was born at Coneiçao de Faro in Portugal's Algarve region and began his career as a naturalist at the University of Coimbra. It was in the Coimbra herbarium that he met his wife, Menina Ester de Sousa.
Mendonça carried out many collecting expeditions in Portugal while based at Coimbra, but it was his work on the flora of Portugal's African colonies for which he is best known. He joined Coimbra professor Luis Carrisso on three plant collecting expeditions to Angola, in 1927, 1929 and 1937-1938. On the last expedition, the pair were accompanied by Arthur Exell of the British Museum and John Gossweiler, government botanist in Angola. Carrisso unfortunately died of a heart attack while in the Namib Desert in June 1937.
The results of the first two Angolan expeditions were published by Carrisso and Mendonça as Syllogue Florae Angolensis. Mendonça and Exell subsequently published Conspectus Florae Angolensis (first volume 1937-1951), Mendonça travelling to London to begin work on the first part. He was also a co-author with John Gossweiler of Carta fitogeográfica de Angola (1939). Another of his publications compiled Friedrich Welwitsch's work on the flora of Angola, Colectanea de escritos, doutrinários, florísticos e fitogeográficos concernentes principalmente à flora de Angola (1945).
Mendonça went on to concentrate on Mozambique, where he travelled in 1942 and 1944-1945 under the auspices of the Missão Botanica de Moçambique project. By this time, African botanical collections had been moved from Coimbra to Lisbon.
His focus returned to Angola in 1950, when he worked again with Exell in London on the next parts of the Conspectus. The pair also collaborated on Flora Zambesiaca, travelling to the countries that are now known as Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia in 1955 to negotiate support for the project. They also visited Mozambique before returning to Europe to start work on the flora, which would be Mendonça's last major project.
Sources:
A.W. Exell, 1984, "In Memory of Francisco de Ascensão Mendonça", Garcia de Orta - Série de Botânica, 6(1-2): 1-5.
References
Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E., Authors Pl. Names (1992): 419; Holmgren, P., Holmgren, N.H. & Barnett, L.C., Index Herb., ed. 8 (1990): 275; Lanjouw, J. & Stafleu, F.A., Index Herb. Coll. A-D (1954): 43, 117; Lanjouw, J. & Stafleu, F.A., Index Herb. Coll. E-H (1957): 188; Smith, G.F. & Willis, C.K., Index Herb. S. Afr., ed. 2 (1999): 69; Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. M (1976): 526; Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. N-R (1983): 625;
