The true story of Ynes Mexia, a Mexican-American botanist whose passion for plants led her on great expeditions, despite being in her early 50s, to gather flowers and plant samples for museums and universities around the world. Ynes went on to collect more than 100,000 specimens, including the elusive wax palm tree, which forever changed the world of botany, thus solidifying her place as the Queen of Leaves.
Describes the journey of Lewis and Clark through the western United States, focusing on the plants they cataloged, their uses for food and medicine, and the plant lore of Native American people.
Discover more than 160 exhibits in this virtual museum, open all hours.
Trees change through the seasons — springing to life, bearing fruit, and losing their leaves before a period of sleep. They clean the air we breathe, provide seeds and homes for creatures, and extend their shade to everyone equally.
Driven by an all-consuming passion, the plant hunters traveled around the world, facing challenges at every turn: tropical illnesses, extreme terrain, and dangerous animals. They battled piranhas, tigers, and vampire bats. Even the plants themselves could be lethal! But these intrepid eighteenth and nineteenth century explorers were determined to find and collect new and unusual specimens, no matter what the cost. Then they tried to transport the plants- and themselves- home alive. Creating an important legacy in science, medicine, and agriculture, the plant hunters still inspire the scientific and environmental work of contemporary plant enthusiasts.
Working from primary sources–journals, letters and notes from the field– Anita Silvey introduces us to these daring adventures and scientists. She takes readers into the heart of their expeditions to then-uncharted places such as the Amazon basin, China and India. As she brings a colorful cast of characters to life, she shows what motivated these Indiana Jones-type heroes. In The Plant Hunters, science, history, and adventure have been interwoven to tell a largely forgotten- yet fascinating- story.