Sebastián Vidal y Soler

Sebastián Vidal y Soler was a Spanish forester and botanist.
Sebastián was born in Barcelona to Domènec Vidal i Balaguer and Peronella Soler i Rovirosa. He and his lesser-known older brother, Domingo, studied at the Technical University of Madrid#School of [Forestry Engineering|Spanish forestry school]. In the 1870s they both took up posts in the forestry service of the Philippines, which was a Spanish colonial possession.
Sebastián Vidal had a particular interest in woody plants, but studied Malesian flora in general, collecting specimens, collaborating with other botanists, and publishing a number of works including Revisión de Plantas Vasculares Filipinas.
He was able to make more than one trip back to Spain. His 1874 publication Memoria sobre el ramo de montes en las islas Filipinas appears to refer to a trip caused by health problems. In 1883 he took advantage of being in Europe to visit herbaria there including that of Kew.
Vidal served as director of the Botanical Garden of Manila from 1878 until his death in 1889 from cholera. A statue of Vidal by Enric Clarasó was erected in the Garden, although it no longer exists.

Honours

In 1887 a Philippines Exposition was organised in Madrid. There was a section devoted to Geografía botánica del Archipiélago, su flora, la forestal y fauna. Plants were exhibited at the newly constructed Palacio de Cristal in the Parque del [Buen Retiro, Madrid|Retiro Park]. For his contribution, Vidal received the honour of entry into the Order of Isabella the Catholic.

Plant specimens

Although the herbarium in Manila was destroyed in a fire in 1897, some of Vidal's specimens of Philippine flora are preserved in Europe to this day, at Kew, where he collaborated with Robert Allen Rolfe, and at Madrid's Real [Jardín Botánico de Madrid|Real Jardín Botánico], where, since Vidal's death Benjamín Máximo Laguna and later scholars have worked on them.