seeds into his pocket and grow them on board ship on the way back to Europe, and returned to England with five healthy plants, the first seen in Britain. Known as the Monkey Puzzle tree, the Chile Pine became a favourite in most formal gardens of the nineteenth century. After the voyage, Menzies served with the Navy in the West Indies. He received the degree of M.D. at the University of Aberdeen in 1799. After retiring from the Navy he became a doctor and surgeon at Notting Hill, London. He became the father of the Linnean Society upon the death of Aylmer Bourke Lambert. Menzies's wife died in 1836. They had no children. Menzies himself died in London on 15 February 1842 and is buried in Kensal Green cemetery. Legacy Menzies' name is commemorated in the scientific names of several of the plants he discovered, including Menziesia, a genus of shrubs in the Ericaceae, and the Douglas fir Pseudotsuga menziesii, the most commercially important tree in western North America. The Pacific madrone, an evergreen tree and largest of the Ericaceae, was named Arbutus menziesii in his honour by Friedrich Pursh. Also named for Menzies, in a corrupted form as adapted by the Nuxalk people of the Bella Coola area of the Central Coast of British Columbia, is "Bensins Island", as recorded by Alexander Mackenzie during his visit there shortly after Vancouver's ship visited the area. The Ainapo Trail he used to climb Mauna Loa is also known as "Menzies Trail". One of the principal streets surrounding the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria, British Columbia is named Menzies Street. Many of the specimens collected by Menzies are planted in London's Kew Gardens. He also brought back to London 112 separate collections of artefacts, which are housed at the British Museum. A comprehensive catalogue of these collections was not published until 1951. See also European and American voyages of scientific exploration References Further reading Captain Vancouver, Northwest Navigator, E.C. Coleman. Tempus Publishing 2006. External links Archibald Menzies (1754 - 1842) on www.victorialodging.com 1754 births 1842 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Botanists active in the Pacific Botanists active in North America Botanists with author abbreviations Bryologists People from Perth and Kinross British pteridologists Royal Navy officers Scottish botanists Scottish explorers Scottish sailors Scottish surgeons Scottish naturalists