John Torrey

Happy birthday to John Torrey, who is born on this day in 1796.

Torrey was the first American botanist to study the flora of New York State.
The area Torrey botanized included what is now Greenwich Village, the area of the Elgin botanic garden, which is now Rockefeller Center, and Bloomingdale, which is now the upper side west side of Manhattan, as well as Hoboken New Jersey.
Torrey's Calendarian was a phenological record where he documented the plants he observed - recording the species, location, and date of first bloom.
Farmers often kept similar records to track planting seasons and growing cycles.
Thomas Jefferson did the same thing in a book he called The Calendar.
The New York botanic garden has digitized this manuscript so you can check it out when you get a chance. 
And, if you live in Colorado, it might interest you to know that Torrey's peak in Colorado is named for John Torrey.