in life, writing: "… I have a job, [where] I produce something real and lasting." Over the course of the next 13 years, Mexía traveled from the northern regions of Alaska to the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego. Her habits often surprised people she met because she was not acting in a manner typical of a woman of the early 20th century: traveling alone, riding horseback, wearing trousers (knickers), and preferring to sleep outside even if beds or indoor accommodations were available. She wrote about her rejecting of such stereotypes and commented that "A well-known collector and explorer stated very positively that 'it was impossible for a woman to travel alone in Latin America,'" and emphasized that "I decided that if I wanted to become better acquainted with the South American continent the best way would be to make my way right across it." In 1938, while on an expedition to Oaxaca, Mexico, Mexía became ill. Forced to abort the trip and return to the United States, she was subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer and died a month later at the age of 68. William E. Colby, then secretary of the Sierra Club, wrote, "All who knew Ynés Mexía could not fail to be impressed by her friendly unassuming spirit, and by that rare courage which enabled her to travel, much of the time alone, in lands where few would dare to follow." Career Mexía began her career in botany in 1922 when she joined an expedition lead by Mr. E. L. Furlong, the Curator of Paleontology at University of California, Berkeley. Her successes started to mount in 1925 with a two-month excursion to western Mexico under the auspices of Roxanna Ferris, a botanist at Stanford University. Mexía fell off a cliff, fracturing ribs and injuring a hand. Despite the trip being halted, it yielded 500 botanical specimens, including several new species. The first species to be named after Mexia, Mimosa mexiae, was discovered on this voyage, and was dedicated to her by Joseph Nelson Rose. Various other species that she discovered were later named for her, including a flowering plant that is a member of the daisy family called Zexmenia mexiae, now named Lasianthaea macrocephala. She collected the type specimen of Mexianthus in December 1926, south of Puerto Vallarta. In 1928 she was hired to collect plants in Mount McKinley National Park in Alaska, which yielded 6100 specimens.