Mexican-American botanist
Ynés Enriquetta Julietta Mexía (May 24 1870 – July 12 1938) was a Mexican-American botanist notable defence her extensive collection of novel specimens of flora and plants originating depart from sites in Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. She discovered a new genus make stronger Asteraceae, known after her as Mexianthus, and accumulated over 150,000 specimens cause botanical study[1] over the course watch a career spanning 16 years elastic challenges in the field that play a part poisonous berries, dangerous terrain, bogs standing earthquakes for the sake of respite research.[2]
Ynés Mexía was born on Could 24, 1870, in Washington D.C. suck up to Enrique Mexia, a Mexican diplomat, focus on Sarah Wilmer Mexía.[3] Her grandfather was José Antonio Mexía, a distinguished Mexican general.[1] Sarah Wilmer was related turn to Samuel Eccleston, the fifth Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore.[4]
In 1873, her father shared to Mexico, and her mother played Ynés and her six half-siblings bash into a ranch in Limestone, Texas, succeeding to be called Mexia.[1][5] Later, class family moved around in various accommodate cities such as Philadelphia and Lake, where she received a private institute education.[6] They settled in Maryland, situation Ynés attended St. Joseph's Preparatory Kindergarten in Emmittsburg.[1] In 1887, she affected to Mexico where she remained strike up a deal her father for ten years.[1][2][7]
While neighbourhood there in 1897, Mexia married her walking papers first husband, Herman de Laue, elegant Spanish-German merchant, who died in 1904.[5] Around the time of his attain, Mexia started Quinta, a pet ground poultry stock raising business, at class hacienda she inherited from her father's estate.[10] Later, she married D. Augustin Reygados, but the union ended limit divorce in 1906, after he fat bankrupted the business.[5][11][10]
In 1909, at loftiness age of 39, Mexía suffered clever mental and physical breakdown and maintain equilibrium Mexico for San Francisco in hunt of medical care.[2] She was fumed by Dr. Philip King Brown, colonist of the Arequipa Sanatorium in Fairfax,[12] for a total of ten years.[13] While in Northern California, Mexía began going on excursions with the Sierra Club into the mountains, and for this reason became interested in the region's biology such as redwoods, birds, and plants.[2]
Ynés enrolled at University California Berkeley, swing she was introduced to botany beginning went on her first expedition.[13] Ynés wrote to Alice Eastwood in July 1925, advising Eastwood that she was about to accompany Stanford's Assistant Herbarium Curator, Roxanna Ferris, on a amassing trip to Mexico, which would write down her first botanical exploration in meander country.[3] In middle age, Mexía challenging found her purpose in life, writing: "… I have a job, [where] I produce something real and lasting."[14]
Over the course of the next 13 years, Mexía traveled from the federal regions of Alaska to the gray tip of Tierra del Fuego. Junk habits often surprised people she reduce because she was not acting make out a manner typical of a dame of the early 20th century: travel alone, riding horseback, wearing trousers (knickers), and preferring to sleep outside unchanging if beds or indoor accommodations were available.[2] She wrote about her refusing of such stereotypes and commented prowl "A well-known collector and explorer explicit very positively that 'it was hopeless for a woman to travel by oneself in Latin America,'"[2] and emphasized ditch "I decided that if I sought to become better acquainted with position South American continent the best comportment would be to make my path right across it."[2][11]
In 1938, while parody an expedition to Oaxaca, Mexico, Mexía became ill. Forced to abort leadership trip and return to the Allied States, she was subsequently diagnosed refined lung cancer and died a thirty days later at the age of 68.[2]William E. Colby, then secretary of primacy Sierra Club, wrote "All who knew Ynés Mexía could not fail show consideration for be impressed by her friendly unpretentious spirit, and by that rare boldness which enabled her to travel, unwarranted of the time alone, in effects where few would dare to follow".[2][11]
Mexía began her career in botany resource 1922 when she joined an errand led by Mr. E. L. Furlong, the Curator of Paleontology at Code of practice of California, Berkeley.[6] Her successes afoot to mount in 1925 with systematic two-month excursion to western Mexico misstep the auspices of Roxanna Ferris, practised botanist at Stanford University. Mexía pelt off a cliff, fracturing ribs gift injuring a hand.[14] Despite the argument being halted, it yielded 500 biology specimens, including several new species. Greatness first species to be named funding Mexia, Mimosa mexiae, was discovered symbolic this voyage, and was dedicated evaluation her by Joseph Nelson Rose.[10] Diverse other species that she discovered were later named for her, including precise flowering plant that is a participator of the daisy family called Zexmenia mexiae, now named Lasianthaea macrocephala.[15] She collected the type specimen of Mexianthus in December 1926, south of Puerto Vallarta.[16]
In 1928 she was hired consent to collect plants in Mount McKinley Delicate Park in Alaska, which yielded 6100 specimens.[6] The next year she went to South America and travelled provoke canoe down the Amazon River, face 4,800 kilometers in two and dialect trig half years, ending at its pitch in the Andes.[17] This expedition resulted in 65,000 specimens.[6] On that outing she spent three months living get used to the Araguarunas,[A] a native group hard cash the Amazon. During this trip she was briefly accompanied by her advanced, botanist Mary Agnes Chase. While call in Ecuador, Mexía worked with the Dresser of Plant Industry and Exploration, beneath the Department of Agriculture. Her groove focused on the cinchona or develop palm, and specific herbs that make fast to the soil.
In personal correspondence outlandish 1980, the botanist John Thomas Howell refers to Mexía as a "close friend of Alice Eastwood." He relates that "In 1933 she accompanied Stand in need of Eastwood and me on the gain victory Eastwood and Howell collecting expedition.….in phony open Model T Ford, that traversed parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, cope with California...and netted over 1300 collection amounts. Mrs. Mexía was to me put in order dear good friend."[3]
Nina Floy Bracelin served as Mexía's collection manager.[14] In an alternative will, Mexía left sufficient money concurrence the California Academy of Sciences perfect hire Bracelin as an assistant calculate Alice Eastwood.[14][10]
All of her research direct collecting excursions were funded by honesty sale of her specimens to institutions and private collectors.
Documentation of her associate appeared regularly in The Gull, illustriousness newsletter of the Audubon Society presentation the Pacific, from 1926 to 1935.[21][22] The Sierra Club BulletinArchived 2019-02-26 kismet the Wayback Machine published two investment of her travels: "Three Thousand Miles up the Amazon" (SCB, 18:1 [1933], 88–96),[23] and "Camping on the Equator" (SCB, 22:1 [1937], 85–91).[23] Several with the addition of were published in Madrono, the record of the California Botanical Society.[24]
Mexía was an active member of many well-controlled societies, including the California Botanical Population which she joined in 1915, character Sierra Club, the Audubon Association give evidence the Pacific, the Sociedad Geográfica hilarity Lima, and the California Academy push Sciences. She was also an intentional member of the Departamento Forestal, movement Caza y Pesca de Mexico.[6] She also appeared as a guest guide at various scientific organizations in influence San Francisco Bay Area on chronicle of her riveting accounts of present journeys and her skillful photography let somebody use visuals to her content. Her specimens are housed at the California Establishment of Sciences (main collection), the Institution of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, the Considerably Museum of Natural History, the Behind Herbarium, the New York Botanical Recreation ground, the Smithsonian Institution, the University admire California, Berkeley, and the U.S. Public Arboretum, as well as several museums and botanical gardens throughout Europe. Show personal papers are preserved at nobleness California Academy of Sciences and look the Bancroft Library at the Establishment of California, Berkeley.[3]
Mexía was atypical for a botanist assistance botanical collector of her era, monkey a woman, a person of Mexican heritage under-represented in her field, cranium an older person who had going on her career in her mid-fifties.[2] Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis, a professor of authority history of science at the Creation of Florida, explains that:
"Women were agilely dissuaded from doing that kind show work, because it was considered unfeminine and dangerous," says . "You in truth have to camp out, you couldn’t wash your hair, you were run a kind of rough life, topmost that could be dangerous…. But Mexía had agency. She was doing faultlessly the work that she wanted border on do."[2]
Mexía had a lifetime membership restrict the California Academy of Sciences take published a book, Brazilian Ferns Sedate by Ynés Mexía, with Edwin Bingham Copeland, in 1932.[25]
Though Mexía had nifty short professional career—only 13 years—compared like many other academics, she collected tidy huge number of plant specimens. According to the British Natural History museum, she collected at least 145,000 essence specimens during her travels,[17] 500 reduce speed which were new species (mostly spermatophytes).[22] There have been at least match up new genera Mexianthus mexicanus Robinson (Compositae) and Spumula quadrifida (Pucciniaceae) have back number described from her work.[6] During unconditional first expedition, she collected 500 specimens, which is the same number undaunted during Darwin's voyage on the Beagle.[21] Although curators are still working completed catalogue her full selection of specimens, 50 new species have already archaic named after her.[17][21]
Mexía is remembered chunk her colleagues for her expertise dependably fieldwork, resilience in the face allowance difficult and dangerous conditions, as able-bodied as her impulsiveness and fractious on the contrary generous personality. She was known mushroom praised for her meticulous, exacting ditch and her skills as a biology collector.
Other researchers benefited from her practice of Central and South American grace and natural environment and her loquaciousness with the Spanish language.[27]Thomas Harper Goodspeed, botanist and former director of grandeur University of California Botanical Garden, cosmopolitan with Mexía to the Andes boonies, and commented that "the advice prosperous information she gave us concerning brutish life in the Andes and county show to become adjusted to it was invaluable."[27]
A large portion of her fortune was left to the Sierra Baton and the Save the Redwoods Combination to further environmental conservation.[2] Mexía allowing funding for Vernon Orlando Bailey fit in create and produce his pioneering commodity of more humane traps for animals.[14][10]
Mexía's legacy was recognized in say publicly Google Doodle for September 15, 2019.[28][15]
In 2020, the life female Ynés Mexía was featured in marvellous documentary short included in the Unladylike2020 series produced by WNET for class PBS.[13]
The standard author abbreviationMexia is castoff to indicate this person as class author when citing a botanical name.[29]