The Perfect Specimen

The 20th Century Renown Botanist--Ynes Mexia

By: Durlynn Anema

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Attending college at 50-years-old was rare in the 1920’s -- especially for a woman. For Ynes Mexia it marked the beginning of her career as a botanical collector. Throughout the rest of her life, she took long expeditions into the wilds of Mexico, South America and Alaska accompanied, with few exceptions, only by her native guides. These explorations enabled her to find thousands of specimens including several hundred newly discovered ones. Mexia’s dramatic story tells her move from shy, lonely young woman with two marriages and a nervous breakdown to confident older woman involved with botany and the environmental movement. Her legacy lives on through her botanical discoveries and a new genus and fifty new species named after her.