ZINA PITCHER 

 ^ 1797-1872 



CarduusPitcheri TORREY 



It would seem almost reasonable to expect 

 plants named for Zina Pitcher to be our familiar 

 " pitcher " plants, but a thistle, a peanut, a clema- 

 tis and a sandwort commemorate the botanist son 

 of Nathaniel and Margaret Stevenson Pitcher, 

 born April 12, 1797, on a farm in Washington 

 County, New York. When five years old his 

 father died, leaving the mother with four young 

 sons and an unattractive farm. Being Scotch, 

 she had learned the value of education, and she 

 determined to provide the best possible for her 

 children. The little boys went to the village 

 school and helped on the farm, all eventually 

 doing well one of them becoming Acting Gov- 

 ernor of New York. Zina " avoided the pleas- 

 ures and excesses of his young associates," so I 

 imagine him strolling in field and wood, noting 

 everything, and making the burden of dull farm 

 work a stepping-stone to his loving study of the 

 natural wonders around him. 



He began to study medicine at the age of 

 twenty-one with private practitioners, and at Cas- 



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