1724-1766

American botanist and first woman in North America known to have a professional command of the Linnaean system of classification. Though her scientific contributions are minimal, much of her botanical enterprise probably contributed to the publications of her father, Cadwallader Colden. One of her surviving manuscripts, "Flora Nov-Eboracensis," capably describes and illustrates 341 plants growing near her New York State home. One of her plant descriptions was published by the naturalist Dr. Alexander Garden which led to the gardenia being named for him.