IV. 



LIST OF PERSONS WHO HAVE MADE BOTANICAL 

 COLLECTIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



By WILLIAM H. BREWER. 



The collection of jilants in California for scientific stndy has been going on for about ninety 

 years, which time may conveniently be grouped into four periods. The first, beginning witli the 

 arrival in that country of the earliest botanist, in 1791, and ending with 1848, coincides nearly 

 with the Spanish colonial period. The second, beginning with the great emigration of 1849 and 

 continuing eleven years, covers the Mexican Boundary survey and the .several government exi)lo- 

 rations for a railroad to the Tacific. The tliird begins with the organization of the State Geologi- 

 cal Survey, under Trof. J. D. Whitney, in 1860, and ends with the completion of the Pacific 

 Railroad in 1868 ; the fourth extending from tliat date to the present time. I shall here con- 

 sider only the first three of these periods ; for, during the last, so many persons have visited the 

 State and carried away collections, and the local botanists have so increased in number, that it is 

 impracticable for me to enumerate all of them. 



In botanical litemture, the name California has been applied to a wide and vague region, ex- 

 tending from Cape Saint Lucas to Nootka along the coast, and inland to the Rocky Mountains ; 

 but this sketch applies only to the territory now known as the State of California. 

 • It will be noticed that the.se botanical collectors may be grouped into four classes, — those 

 ofTicially connected with various government exjieditions and surveys ; scientific men visiting the 

 State, but having no connection with government work ; persons making collections for sale or 

 for private subscribers, or for botanical gardens and museums ; and, finally, resident botanists who 

 have engaged in the work chiefiy through their love of it. 



The first botanists to visit California were TiiADCEUs Haknke and Luis N6e, who accompa- 

 nied the Spanish expedition under Malaspina, which touched our coast at San Diego and Mon- 

 terey in 1791. Between 1789 and 1817, Haenke botanized along the western side of the American 

 continent from Patagonia to Behring Strait, without once returning to Europe, and died in 

 Bolivia in 1817. His collections are in part at Prague, and were described by Presl in " Reli- 

 quire Htenkeansi?," and the rest, with those of Nee, are in the herbarium of the Royal Garden at 

 Madrid. Through a confusion of labels, some of his plants described as Chilian were probably 

 collected in California ; while some otliejs credited to California were, with little doubt, really 

 from the East Indies or elsewhere. 



Archibald Menzies, who had earlier visited the Northwest Coast in a trading-vessel (in 1786 

 or, as some authorities say, in 1779), was surgeon on the English ship Discovery, under Captain 

 Vancouver, and visited California on three successive years, each time coming to the American 

 coast from the Sandwich Islands in the spring, .spending the summer northward, and passing 

 south in the autumn. In November and December, 1792, he visited Bodega, San Francisco Baj', 

 Santa Clara, and Monterey. In May, 1793, he was at Trinidad Bay, and from October to Decem- 

 ber of the same year at various jilaces, from Bodega to San Dien;o, including the islands below 

 Santa Barbara. Again, in November and December, 1794, he touched at several places along 

 the coast from Santa Cruz southward. A set of his collections is in the British Museum, another 

 at Kew, and a portion of his earlier coUeotions, particularly the cryptogams, are in th« herba- 

 rium of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 



JcsEF Mauiano MnriSo was on the coast from California to Nootka in the year 1792, at the 

 same time as was Menzies, when Vancouver re<!eived from the Simnish tlie formal surrender of 

 Nootka. He afterwards botanized in Mexico, especially in its northern parts, along with Martin 

 Sesse. The large collection of drawings which Mo^iflo brought to Europe after the death of 



