Introduction.

New or insufficiently considered evidence is valued for historical analyses regarding the presence of marabú in Cuba.

Methods.

Historical-logical, analytical-synthetic, and inductive-deductive methods were applied to process information obtained through documentary analysis, from both printed sources and herbarium specimens.

Results and Discussion.

Estimates made on the subject by previous authors are critically analyzed. A herbarium record corresponding to the plant in the national territory is disclosed, which precedes the previously estimated date by 27 years and a focus of early expansion in western Cuba is confirmed. It is shown that science was not unaware of the presence of the plant in the country from the first moments, but this did not translate into an early warning. The first explicit references to invasive behavior occurred between 1910 and 1915, but by then it had expanded considerably and total extirpation was no longer possible.

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