[1] A number of plants are also named in her honor, including the new genus Plummera (now placed as a subgenus within Hymenoxys[2]), described by botanist Asa Gray in 1882.

Plummer then moved to New York City, where she taught art for some years[5] and studied at Cooper Union.

[8] In 1871, she established the "Lending Library and Stationery Depot" with the aid of a friend, Unitarian minister Henry Bellows, who helped her acquire her first few hundred volumes.

While walking about Santa Barbara, Plummer became interested in botany, and began creating botanical illustrations.

[1] She sold her library to the Odd Fellows to operate, and she and John Lemmon began traveling and cataloging botanical discoveries.

[5] Sara and John Lemmon honeymooned in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona, at her recommendation.

[15] Lemmon continued her botanical illustrations, and served as the official artist for the California State Board of Forestry (from 1888 to 1892), acquiring a national reputation for her work.