Jane’s detailed botanical descriptions reveal her curiosity and intelligence and her careful observation demonstrates the working of a scientific mind. For a woman of that time to be encouraged to follow an intellectual pursuit and to succeed in the field provides enough explanation for why Jane became the first woman botanist of colonial America. But as I read her entries I find some of them to be not only carefully observed but also erotic.
Stalk is moderately thick, round smooth naked, & grows about a
foot high, it carries a single flower, its top turn downwards so that
the flower hangs with its top downwards but when it is in Seed,
the Stalk stands erect again.
Flowers are of a pale yellow colour, grow from 3 to 10 together, at
The top of the Stalk, each having a separate foot Stalk, of about half
An Inch long, and bend downwards; when the Berries ripens their
foot Stalk become of a bright red colour, & also the under end of
those Leaves directly under them.
Botany is mostly about reproduction so maybe I’m just reading something extra into her writings but I wonder if botanical study provided Jane an avenue into another area off limits to women of her era. In pursuit of this idea I am producing a series of folios that include some of her descriptions. The folio shown here is titled Bloodroot and is made from pigment prints on handmade paper with pressed plants, silk organza and linen thread. It measures 32” x 54” when open.
