Mary Wissinger - Women in Botany

Inside a seed is a plant waiting to happen. From the smallest of flowers to the tallest of trees, most plants on the planet come from seeds.

A seed coat keeps the seed cozy and safe. A baby plant, called an embryo, is snuggled inside along with nutrients for the plant to sprout.

Waheenee paid attention to seeds. She had the important job of growing all the food for her family and helping to feed her community.

She knew exactly when to plant sunflower seeds in the spring. She sprouted squash seeds in a mixture of grass and leaves before sowing them in the field. In the autumn, she saved enough corn seeds for two seasons of planting, just in case a harvest was bad.

Waheenee / Buffalo Bird Woman

(wah-HEE-nee)

Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara Nation, ca. 18391932

As Waheenee tended her crops, the seeds grew into the plants that fed many people. Waheenee used traditional ways of planting that had been passed down for generations, even after she and her people were forced to leave their homeland. She shared her peoples history and planting methods in books that were written about her life. Just like her, we rely on seeds to grow into the fruits, vegetables, and grains we eat every day.

Every seed needs a few things to become a plant: water, light, the right temperature, and space to grow. When the seed is ready, it sends roots down into the soil. Then a stem grows up toward the light. You can see the plant when the stem pops through the soil.

There are some plants that have always grown well in gardens and on farms. But others grow best in the wild. When Elizabeth Coleman White was a girl, blueberries only grew wild in the forest. They were often hard to find.

Elizabeth dreamt of a whole field of blueberries that she could easily pick. It seemed impossible. Many people had already tried and failed to grow blueberries on farms.

Elizabeth used botanythe scientific study of plantsto make her dream come true. She planted blueberry bushes in soil that she and her research partner had specially prepared.

After lots of hard work, she figured out how to grow blueberries on her farm! She sold them at markets, sent cuttings of bushes all over, and became known as the Blueberry Queen. Thanks to Elizabeths persistence, blueberries are now grown and eaten all around the world.

Elizabeth Coleman

(ee-LIZ-ah-beth KOHL-man)

United States, 18711954

Plants make their own food through a process called photosynthesis.

Plant leaves have a pigment, or coloring, that makes them green. It's called chlorophyll, and it absorbs light energy from the sun. That energy is used by the plant to help it combine water and carbon dioxide, which produces food. Photosynthesis also makes oxygen, which the plant releases through its leaves. That oxygen becomes an important part of the air we breathe.

The incredible process of photosynthesis is one of the many reasons botanists travel the world studying plant life.

Yns Mexa was 51 years old when she began her global search for plants. Whether she had to cross a bog, canoe down a river, or camp out for months, she was determined to collect plants. Her passion made her unstoppable: she continued her expeditions even after she fell off a cliff!

Yns Mexa

(ee-NEHZ meh-HEE-ah)

United States, 18701938

Mexianthus mexicanus
Collected Dec. 1, 1926

Yns had an excellent memory that helped her quickly spot new plants. She collected almost 150,000 plant specimens to study. Some people dream of discovering just one new species of plant. Yns discovered as many as 500 new species, many of which are named after her. Her work gave us a better understanding of plants and added to the Linnaean System.

Just like a library organizes books, the Linnaean System organizes all life forms on Earth. It gives a scientific name to every plant that has been discovered. It also acts like a family tree, showing us how plants are related to one another.

Almost 400,000 different species of plants have been found on Earth so far, and they can be full of surprises.

Eelgrass and other marine plants live in saltwater. Tiny wildflowers dot the icy tundra. Mosses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and can even grow in sidewalk cracks. Giant sequoia trees live thousands of years and grow as tall as 31-story buildings. No matter where or how plants grow, the Linnaean System keeps track of them all. As we organize and study the plants that support life on Earth, we learn more ways they help us.