Jane Colden

Jane Colden (March 27, 1724 – March 10, 1766) is considered the first woman botanist in America. Employing Linneas's new system of botanical classification, she documented over 300 plants native to the Catskill region of New York where she spend most of her life. The dissemination of Colden's detailed descriptions among European and American botanists led to increased knowledge of the plants of the New World.

History

--Robyn Asleson

Texts

• Garden, Alexander, February 18, 1755, letter to Cadwallader Colden (1923: 5: 5),

"I have had severall Letters from Europe & a pretty parcell of Seeds from Russia from Dr Mounsey cheif Physician to the Army & Physician to the Prince Royal of Russia they are mostly Persian seeds I have sent a few to Miss Colden.... I mentioned to Miss Colden that the Small Bags of Shells something like Hops that she has are the reall Matrices of the Buccinum ampullatum of Dr Lister.... I shall in my next mention to Miss Colden the method of preserving Butterflies &c."

• Garden, Alexander, May 23, 1755, letter to Cadwallader Colden (1923: 5: 10-11)

"It gives me great pleasure that you give me leave to send Miss Colden's Description of that new plant to any of my Correspondents as I had before sent it to Dr Whytt at Edinburgh By your second letter I find that I have very innocently offended Both you & Miss Golden by some expressions that insensibly dropt from my pen as archetypes of what my heart dictated in was on sincerity. This gives me real concern & give me leave to assure you I shall endeavour as far as in my power to amend any thing in my conduct or manner of writing that you are kind enough to point out as wrong. I trust that Both you & your Daughter will forgive me for once, I shall be more sparing in saying what I think is due to such merit for the future The Expression which you say gave her most offence, gives me now a great deal of uneasiness as I suspect it has deprived me of the pleasure of a letter from her by last opportunity. Your observations on the Sexes are very good but these & such Experiments dont seem to convince my old Master, who quotes some carefully made experiments on the Contrary side you'll read the paper w[i]t[h] little pleasure & less satisfaction when it falls in your way I think none of his Experiments are at all conclusive.

"Its now passed the Season of Seeds but 111 endeavour to procure Such as Miss Colden may want this year, tho my present Business confines me much to Town. I have not had an hour to spend in the woods this 2 months which makes me turn rusty in Botany.

• Colden, Cadwallader, October 1, 1755, letter to John Frederic Gronovius (1923: 5: 29-30)

"I thought that Botany is an Amusement which may be made agreable for the Ladies who. are often at a loss to fill up their time if it could be made agreable to them Their natural curiosity & the pleasure they take in the beauty & variety of dress seems to fit them for it The chief reason that few or none of them have hitherto applied themselves to this study I believe is because all the books of any value are wrote in Latin & so filled with technical words that the obtaining the necessary revious knowlege is so tiresome & disagreable that they are dis- couraged at the first setting out & give it over before they can receive any pleasure hi the pursuit.

"I have a daughter who has an inclination to reading & a curiosity for natural phylosophy or natural History & a sufficient capacity for attaining a competent nowlege[.] I took the pains to explain Linnaeus's system & to put it in English for her use by fre[e]ing it from the Technical terms which was easily don[e] by useing two or three words in place of one[.] She is now grown very fond of the study and has made such progress in it as I believe would please you if you saw her performance Tho' per-haps she could not have been persuaded to learn the terms at first she now understands in some degree Linnaeus's characters notwithstanding that she does not understand Latin[.] She has allready a pretty large volume in writing of the Description of plants. She was shewn a method of takeing the impression of the leaves on paper with printers ink by a simple kind of rolling press which is of use in distinguishing the species by their leaves. No description in words alone can give so clear an idea as when the description is assisted with a picture She has the impression of 300 plants in the manner you'l[l] see by the sample sent you[.] That you may have some conception of her performance & her manner of describing I propose to inclose some samples in her own writting some of which I think are new Genus's. One is of the anax foliis ternis ternatis in the Flora Virg. I never had seen the fruit of it till she discover'd it[.] The fruit is ripe in the beginning of June & the plant dies immediately after the fruit is ripe & no longer to be seen. Two more I have not found described any where & in the others you will find some things particular which I think are not taken notice of by any author I have seen[.] If you think S[i]r that she can be of any use to you she will be extremely pleased in being imployed by you either in sending descriptions or any seeds you shall desire or dryed Specimens of any particular plants you shall mention to me[.] She has time to apply her self to gratify your curiosity more than I ever had & now when I have time the infirmities of age disable me."

• [[Cadwallader Colden|Colden, Cadwallader], n.d. {October 1755?] letter to Peter Collinson (1923: 5: 37),

"I shall [...] send you a Sample of my daughter Jenny's performances in Botany. As it is not usual for woemen to take pleasure in Botany as a Science I shall do what I can to incourage her in this amusement which fills up her idle hours to much better purpose that the usual amusements eagerly pursued by others of her sex As she cannot have the opportunity of seeing plants in a Botanical Garden I think the next best is to see the best cuts or pictures of them for which purpose I would buy for her Tourneforts Institutes & Morison's Historia plantarum, or if you know any better books for this purpose as you are a better judge than I am I will be obliged to you in making the choice[.] If Mr Calm's Observations in America be published pray send it to me or any thing else which is new & you like on that subject. At the bottom I shall annex a list of some things & other books I must desire the favour of you to send to me....

Ainsworth's Latin & English Dictionary Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary I have the first five Vol of the Abridgemt of the Philosoph. Transaction Send the following Volumes

Tournfort Institutiones herbarise

Morison's Historia Plantarum

Fred. Hoffman Opera omnia

• [[Alexander Garden|Garden, Alexander, April 15, 1757, letter from Charles Town to Cadwallader Colden (1923: 5: <ref>

"Its now so long since I had the honour of hearing from you or from Miss Colden that I'm entirely at Loss to what to attribute it to. Conveyances indeed are uncertain, but I have wrote severall times both by Sea & By Post both to Your Daughter & You that I scarce can imagine but that some of them must have come to hand. Let me Beg You'll be so kind as releive my present uneasiness.

"Did Miss Colden receive the Seeds which I sent; they were the following The Chionanthus or Fringetree. 2d The Hop-tree a new genus—3 Yellow Jessamy 4 Campellia a most beautifull flowring shrub—yucca foliis filamentosis—Pavia or scarlet Horsechesnut Umbrella tree or the Magnolia foliis Amplissimis flore ingenti Candidi....

"I will be greatly obliged to you Da[ugh]t[er] for for any seeds or Insects that she can pick up, very soon I'll write her at great Length."