Jane Colden

Jane Colden
Born(1724-03-27)March 27, 1724[citation needed]
New York City, New York, British America
DiedMarch 10, 1766(1766-03-10) (aged 41)
OccupationBotanist
Known forFirst American female botanist"[1]
SpouseWilliam Farquhar
Parents

Jane Colden (March 27, 1724 – March 10, 1766) was an American botanist,[2]: 53–4  described as the "first botanist of her sex in her country" by Asa Gray in 1843.[3] Although not acknowledged in contemporary botanical publications, she wrote a number of letters resulting in botanist John Ellis writing to Carl Linnaeus of her work applying the Linnaean system of plant identification to American flora, for which botanist Peter Collinson stated "she deserves to be celebrated".[2]: 54 [1] Contemporary scholarship maintains that she was the first female botanist working in America, which ignores, among others, Maria Sibylla Merian or Catherine Jérémie. Colden was respected as a botanist by many prominent botanists including John Bartram, Peter Collinson, Alexander Garden, and Carl Linnaeus. Colden is most famous for her untitled manuscript, housed in the British Museum, in which she describes the flora of the Hudson Valley in the Newburgh region of New York state, including ink drawings of 340 different species.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Smith 1988 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435
  3. ^ Cadwallader Colden; Peter Collinson; Asa Gray; Johannes Fredericus Gronovius; Carl von Linné (1843). Selections from the scientific correspondence of Cadwallader Colden with Gronovius, Linnaeus, Collinson, and other naturalists. Printed by B.L. Hamlen. p. 22. Retrieved 2 September 2020.