David Douglas grows up in Scotland in the early 1800s, a time of great fascination with the natural world and with scientific discovery.

A boyhood love of outdoor pursuits leads Douglas to a career as a naturalist. While working for the botanical gardens at the University of Glasgow, he studies plant physiology and taxonomy under William Jackson Hooker, the charismatic botanist and artist.

Hooker describes his student as "an individual eminently calculated to do himself credit as a scientific traveler.” When the London Horticultural Society puts out a call for a plant collector to travel to the New World, Douglas finds himself in the right place at the right time.