Dora Emilia Mora de Retana country of citizenship Costa Rica
Dora Emilia Mora de Retana (24 August 1939 – 12 July 2001) was a noted Costa Rican botanist, known primarily for her work with orchids. She compiled an extensive catalogue of the variations of the flower found in Costa Rica which became the seminal reference work on the family Orchidaceae in the country for over a decade. There are at least five species of orchids named in her honor and in 2011, a plaque bearing her name was installed at the Lankester Botanical Garden to recognize her contributions to its development.Early life
Dora Emilia de los Angeles Mora Monge was born on 24 August 1939 in Cartago Province, Costa Rica. After completing her primary schooling at Escuela Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Sacred Heart of Jesus School) she finished her high school studies in a school of the same name. Going on to university, she enrolled in the University of Costa Rica to study botany and attained her bachelor's degree in Biology. She studied under Rafael Lucas Rodríguez, who developed the academic and scientific study of Costa Rican orchids, and graduated in 1968, becoming one of the first academically trained orchidologists in the country. Her thesis Crecimiento y desarrollo del ápice del vástago vegetativo y de la hoja de Acnistus arborescens Schltdl (Growth and development of the apex of the vegetative stem and leaf of Acnistus arborescens Schltdl), evaluated a type of Solanaceae.
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