Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PH-LC 11 |
Object Name |
Specimen |
Title |
Amorpha fruticosa |
Other Name |
False Indigo |
Collector |
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark |
Date |
1806 |
Description |
Pursh gives only a brief diagnosis for the new variety, indicating his specimen came from Lewis but provides no specific location. This is a highly variable species and we do not attempt to recognize infraspecific entities. The type was collected on 27 Aug 1806. The expedition was at the lower end of the Big Bend of the Missouri River on a nameless island between Lyman and Buffalo cos., South Dakota (Moulton, 1993: 325-326). The area is now under Big Bend Reservoir. Clark reports "My friend Capt Lewis hurt himself very much by takeing a longer walk on the Sand bar in my absence at the buffalow than he had Strength to undergo, which Caused him to remain very unwell all night" (1993: 325). Perhaps Lewis collected this specimen during his walk. The name Amorpha fruticosa var. lewisii Loudon (Arbor. Frutic. Brit. 2: 607. 1838), is based on cultivated plants grown from seeds obtained by Lewis and Clark. We have not attempted to find authentic material associated with the Loudon name. (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. Amorpha fruticosa, commonly called false indigo, is a small shrub that grows along river banks across North America, where it is a native plant species. Lewis is thought to have collected this specimen along the Missouri River in South Dakota, in August 1806. False indigo, as the name suggests, has long been used to dye textiles and fibers blue and is today also cultivated ornamentally. |
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 |