Ynes Mexía is remembered both for his prolific collection of rare plant specimens and for his frequent risks to life and limbs, and for his efforts to advance science. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Google dedicated its Doodle Sunday to the American-Mexican botanist. It was on this date, in 1925, that Mexía undertook his first botanical expedition and travelled to Mexico with a group from Stanford University to collect rare botanical species. But Mexía, 55, quickly decided she could do more for herself and abandoned the group to travel around the country for two years. During this expedition, Mexía fell off a cliff and had a broken hand, ending her journey, but not before collecting more than 1,500 specimens - 50 of which had not previously been discovered. Mexía was born in 1870 in Washington, DC, where her father was a Mexican diplomat. She was considering becoming a nun, but she became a social worker in San Francisco, where she had moved in 1908. Her love for botany beg...