the age of discovery and enlightenment from the 16th to 18th centuries resulted in european colonial expansion and the search for new commodities, including plant trophies and curiosities. this enterprise was centred in the tropics, but by the 18th century the european desire for plants and seeds had extended to temperate north america. although captains of vessels, american residents and plant people of the new world were encouraged to exchange plants it was considered desirable to create gardens specifically for this purpose. it was in this context that king louis xvi of france appointed botanist and naturalist andré michaux to establish a royal garden in north america to facilitate the accumulation of seeds and plants for shipment to france. the main purpose was to obtain plants useful for building and carpentry, forage and medicine; ornamental plants were of secondary importance. in the course of his 11-year stay, from 1785 to 1796, michaux established two gardens, one in new jersey, across the hudson river from new york, the other in charleston, south carolina. he also sent back about 90 cases of seeds and 60,000 plants. accompanying michaux was the promising young gardener from the jardin du roi in paris, pierre-paul saunier, sometimes referred to as a journeyman gardener or "élève du muséum".