Pliny Ward Reasoner accomplished much during the less than seven years he spent in Florida before he died of yellow fever at the age of 25. Six years after his arrival in Florida in 1881, Reasoner was so well recognized for competence in his field that the USDA asked him to survey the status of tropical horticulture in Florida for publication in its first bulletin. He personally searched Florida and Cuba for unusual plants. Through correspondence with botanic gardens all over the world and by importing seeds, he introduced a wide variety of tropical plants to Florida. Many ornamental plants thought to be indigenous to Florida were actually introduced by Pliny Reasoner and the Reasoner Nursery in Oneco.