io The Life and Writings of 



FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA. 



Rafinesque first came to the United States, in com 

 pany with his younger brother, Anthony Augustus, in 

 the spring of 1802, &quot; provided with an adventure and 

 many letters of introduction&quot;. He landed in Philadel 

 phia April 1 8th. With a mind keenly awake to nat 

 ural objects it is not surprising that at once he again 

 began the study of Nature, probably with fresh ardor 

 born of new surroundings and a novel flora. Scarcely 

 had he landed in his new home before he began botan 

 izing, and found a cruciferous plant which had passed 

 under the name of Draba verna; he considered it new 

 and bestowed upon it the name of Draba americana. 

 Whether a formal description of this plant was ever 

 written by Rafinesque I know not; it is not mentioned 

 ir Watson s &quot; Bibliographical Index to North American 

 Botany&quot;, which contains many other names formulated 

 by Rafinesque, so it is to be presumed that he never 

 presented it in such form. But he remarks of this 

 species that &quot;the American Botanists would not believe 

 me; but Decandole has even since made with it the 

 new Genus Erophilal* This is the emblem of many 



* Watson, loc. cit., p. 62, regards both the genus and species of DeCandolle 

 as synonyms, and retains the name of Draba verna. 



