Zaccheus Collins Explained

Zaccheus Collins (1764–1831) was a botanist. He collected plants and owned a herbarium. He collected many plants from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and was gifted specimens from southern statea including North Carolina and Georgia. The genus Collinsia is named after him.

He corresponded with botanists including Henry Muhlenberg, Frederick Augustus Hall Muhlenberg, Stephen Elliott, Jacob Bigelow,^[1] John Torrey and William Baldwin.^[2]

A Quaker, he was a philanthropist and belonged to the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia Linnean Society, and the American Philosophical Society in which he served as a curator.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Repository: Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results. findingaids.library.upenn.edu.
2. Web site: Zaccheus Collins and John Torrey correspondence, 1817-1819. Zaccheus. Collins. March 19, 1817. Biodiversity Heritage Library.
3. Web site: Several Large gooseberrys, the growth of Mr. Z. Collins's garden, one of which weight 10 pennyweight 22 grains | Philadelphia Museums. philadelphia-museums.washingtonpapers.org.