Women Who Shaped Garden History
Jane Colden is recognized as the first woman to be identified as a botanist in the American colonies. Working from her father's estate in New York, she cataloged over 300 plants using the Linnaean system and corresponded with some of the leading botanists in Europe.
Colden was the daughter of Cadwallader Colden, a Scottish-born physician and politician who served as lieutenant governor of New York. Her father was an avid botanist who corresponded with Linnaeus and other European scientists, and he taught Jane the Linnaean system of classification — making her one of the first people of any gender to use it in America.
Working at the family estate, Coldengham, in the Hudson Valley, Jane cataloged the flora of the region. Her manuscript, written between approximately 1753 and 1758, described over 300 plant species with careful observations of their characteristics, habitats, and local uses. She also made ink impressions of leaves to accompany her descriptions, creating a visual record that complemented her written accounts.
Her work circulated among European botanists, including John Ellis, Peter Collinson, and Alexander Garden (for whom the gardenia is named). They were impressed by the quality of her observations, and Ellis forwarded her descriptions to Linnaeus. The Edinburgh botanist John Hope described her as a knowledgeable correspondent whose work compared favorably with that of professional botanists.
Colden's manuscript was never published in her lifetime, and her botanical career was cut short by her marriage in 1759 and early death in 1766 at age 41. But her work demonstrated that women in the colonies could contribute to the emerging international scientific community at the highest level. Her manuscript is now held by the British Museum and has been recognized as a landmark in the history of American botany.