My father, John Bartram, is a botanist. He studies plants and trees. I help him with his work. My name is William. Father calls me his "little botanist."

Of John Bartram's nine children, it was William who best loved nature and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. It was William who dreamed of accompanying his father as he explored the wilderness of colonial America in search of plant specimens. Using journals, maps, and her own vibrant paintings, Deborah Kogan Ray tells the captivating story of William's first trip to the Catskill Mountains and his further adventures as an adult, including a long, perilous journey into the remote wilderness. It is on their last expedition together that father and son discover a rare tree, which they later name the Franklinia, after their friend Benjamin Franklin.

A bibliography, biographical notes, a list of the Bartrams' plant discoveries, and an engraving by William Bartram complete this remarkable book about America's first naturalist.

From the dust jacket