Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PH-LC 109 |
Object Name |
Specimen |
Title |
Ipomopsis aggregata |
Other Name |
Scarlet Gilia |
Collector |
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark |
Date |
1806 |
Description |
Meehan (1838: 37) lists the specimen as Gilia aggregata (Pursh) Spreng. (Syst. Veg. 1: 626. 1825), the traditional name for the taxon. The type was collected along the Lolo Trail in Idaho Co., Idaho, on 26 Jun 1806. Moulton (1993: 55) indicates that here the "Lolo Trail runs along the ridge or divide between the North Fork of the Clearwater (Chopunnish) and the Lochsa (Kooskooske), primarily in Idaho County." No mention of this striking plant is given in the journals. (The Lewis & Clark Herbarium Digital Imagery Study Set, ANSP, 2002) On deposit at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia |
Label |
Starting in 1803, Merriwether Lewis (APS 1803) and William Clark embarked on a 3 year expedition along the Missouri and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Coast. They collected hundreds of plant specimens to carry back to the East Coast. They pressed these plants, attached them to sheets of paper and wrapped them in oilskin to survive the long journey intact. This specimen of Ipomopsis aggregata, commonly referred to as Scarlet Gilia, was collected on June 26th 1806 along the Lolo Trail in Idaho, during the expedition’s return journey eastward. The plant is native to North America and in the United States, is primarily found in the mountainous west regions. In these areas, the plant is most commonly used as a medicinal remedy though specifics of its use, and its use by communities along the Lolo Trail in Idaho cannot be determined. |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of Thomas Jefferson, 1805 - 1806. |
Search Terms |
19th century botany Clark herbarium Lewis nineteenth century plant specimen |
Collection |
The Lewis & Clark Herbarium |