Dictionary
of Botany

Petrus Andreas Mattioli
Barbara McClintock

G. J. Mendel
Anna Maria Merian

Ynes Mexia

Petrus Andreas Mattioli
b. 3-23-1501; Greece
d. 1577

Petrus Andreas Mattioli was a botanist, herbalist and physician. He coordinated the work of Dioscorides with 100 new descriptions of plants, including the first documentation of a vegetable being grown, and eaten, in Europe - the tomato from the New World. He was also the first to describe an allergic reaction to a cat.

Barbara McClintock
b. 6-16-1902; Hartford, CT
d. 9-2-1992

Barbara McClintock received her Ph.D in botany in 1927 (Cornell), where she began her life long work on maize cytogenetics.

• A Feeling for the Organism: The Life & Work of Barbara McClintock
• more Women of Science poster series
• mitosis poster

Gregor Johann Mendel
b. 7-20-1822; Silesia, Austria
d. 1-6-1884; Austria-Hungary

Gregor Johann Mendel was a botantist and an Augustinian priest remembered for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Called the “Father of Modern Genetics” for his work, Mendel's observations showed that the inheritance of traits follow particular laws, which were later named after him (Mendelian inheritance).

Anna Maria Sibylla Merian
b. 4-2-1647; Frankfurt, Germany
d. 1-13-1717; Amsterdam

Anna Maria Sibylla Merian, from a family of artists, studied insects and plants in great detail and then illustrated them with paintings and engravings.

• women artist posters

Ynes Mexia
b. 5-24-1870; Washington, DC
d. 7-12-1938; Berkeley, CA

Botanist Ynes Mexia travels led her to collect thousands of specimens in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and at Mt. McKinley.

The daughter of a Mexican diplomat and American mother, Ynes was educated in the US and Canada, eventually becoming a social worker in San Francisco. While a student at Berkeley she took trips with the Sierra Club and became interested in the natural world.