Overview
Moliniana was a specialized botanical journal published in Santiago, Chile, between 1955 and 1966. It presented original research and review material in plant science, with a regional emphasis on Chilean flora. Surviving issue lists and library catalogs identify the run of the title and provide bibliographic access for researchers and curators (bibliographic record). The journal is associated with mid‑20th‑century efforts to document South American plant diversity and chemistry.
Content and scope
Articles in Moliniana covered descriptive botany, floristic surveys, taxonomic notes, phytochemical studies and related topics. Typical items included species descriptions, notes on distribution and ecology, chemical analyses of plant compounds, and short reports on herbarium collections. Contributions were generally technical and intended for botanists, chemists and museum staff rather than a general audience.
Context and name
The title evokes the important tradition of natural history in Chile; it is commonly presumed to refer to the legacy of earlier naturalists named Molina. The period of publication — the 1950s and 1960s — coincided with renewed institutional interest in documenting national floras and developing local phytochemical research, often reflected in regional periodicals and monographic series (publication city).
Notable contributors
- Gunckel — one of the regular contributors, known for field studies and floristic work.
- Looser — another frequent author, active in taxonomic and regional plant literature.
- Navas — listed among the writers; together these authors represented established Chilean botanical scholarship of the era.
Legacy and access
Moliniana remains a useful source for historical records of Chilean plant names, early phytochemical observations, and locality data that sometimes appear only in mid‑century regional journals. Physical copies and microfilm may be held in national and university libraries; a number of bibliographic and digitization initiatives list or host its contents (digitized issues, catalog entry). For researcher queries about authors or particular articles, institutional catalogs and specialist indices are the best starting points (author profile, related works).