102 



Perhaps the most important part of this work consisted of the 

 correspondence carried on with native and foreign botanists re- 

 garding their local flora, and the transmission of specimens. Miss 

 Colden first made known our pretty little Coptis, or gold-thread. 



A much more important event was the arrival here, in 1785, 

 of the elder Michaux, who established a celebrated botanical gar- 

 den at New Durham, N. J., the site of which is now occupied 

 by the Hoboken cemetery. A brief account of this garden may 

 be found in the Bulletin of our Club, ii : 88. 1884. In that 

 year I saw growing there a barberry bush which apparently rep- 

 resented the last trace of Michaux's plantings, except that the 

 European medicinal shrub Rhammis Frangtila, which he appears 

 to have introduced, has established itself in the adjacent lowlands, 

 and at some neighboring points. Michaux's garden was estab- 

 lished especially for the temporary cultivation of plants designed 

 to be sent to France, or to yield seeds designed for such ship- 

 ment. Nevertheless, so zealous an investigator as Michaux could 

 not fail to utilize this agency for purposes of study, and his great 

 work. Flora Boreali- Americana, published in 1803, and other 

 works on North American botany, were thus materially enriched. 

 Michaux's work in this country was continued by his son, one of 

 whose important publications was a Histoire des arbres forcstiers 

 dc r Anierique Septe7itrionale, afterwards translated into English 

 as The North American Sylva, and this also profited largely by 

 the observations made by the father, while maintaining his garden. 



During the time when the Michauxs were so active here, Mr. 

 Samuel L. Mitchill was assiduously collecting plants in the vicinity 

 of his home at Plandome, Long Island, a catalogue of which was 

 published in 1807. His work is of special interest to us, since 

 he was the first professor of botany in Columbia College. 



The flora of Manhattan Island was at this time being very 

 actively studied by Major John Le Conte, who in 181 1 published 

 an important catalogue relating thereto. 



It is a well recognized historical fact that up to this time, and 

 indeed for a long period following, botanical work proper in this 

 country, consisted chiefly of the collecting and naming of plants, 

 and the description of new species. 



