Altamirano collaborated with many internationally recognized botanists of the period, like Joseph Nelson Rose, Cyrus Pringle, George R. Shaw and Edward Janczewski.

By the end of 1861, at age thirteen, he had already lost his father and mother, so his education was mostly influenced by his grandfather, Manuel Altamirano, a physician and botanist, who introduced him to the botanic studies.

[8] During this period, he also made numerous trips of medical botany to different regions of the country, some in the company of internationally renowned botanists as Joseph Nelson Rose, Cyrus Pringle and George Russell Shaw.

Additionally, Altamirano conducted numerous investigations, reported on the two journals of the institute: El Estudio and Anales del Instituto Médico Nacional.

[13] In 1878, Altamirano published his thesis for the degree of professor, entitled Contribution to the Study of National Pharmacology: Medicinal Indigenous Legumes whose illustrations were drawn by his friend, the painter José María Velasco Gómez.

[14] In 1894, along with José Ramírez, Altamirano wrote an advanced report on environmental remediation, entitled: List of botanical and common names of trees and shrubs to repopulate the forests of the Republic, accompanied by an indication of the climates where they grow and how to propagate them.

He identified this active principle as a substance composed of acicular, yellow, intergrown crystals that formed fluffy and light masses; and he mentioned that it could be used to destroy malignant tumors, to counteract toothaches, and as a revulsive.

He sent a specimen to the French zoologist Alfredo Dugès, at that time living in Guanajuato, who identified this axolotl as a member of a new species, and named it Ambystoma altamirani, in honor of Altamirano.

[4] In 1904, Altamirano presented the book Materia Medica Mexicana: a manual of Mexican medicinal herbs for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in St. Louis, Missouri.

[21] Altamirano was interested in this euphorbiaceae due to its elastic resin content, which he hoped could be profitably converted into commercial rubber, as had been previously done with guayule in northern Mexico.