Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PH-LC 113 |
Object Name |
Specimen |
Title |
Juniperus communis |
Other Name |
Common Juniper |
Collector |
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark |
Date |
1806 |
Description |
The suggestion is made by Hitchcock (in Hitchcock et al., 1969: 106) that the 7 Jul 1806 Lewis collection is "probably the actual type" of var. depressa. He declares this even though Pursh states he saw the taxon "in New York, and particularly in the province of Maine, in rocky or gravelly situations." Nowhere does Pursh mention Lewis and Clark specimens. However, he did have access, in London, to a Lewis and Clark specimen (LC-PH 114), and he did ascribe a varietal name ("nana") to the collection. The use of the name appears to be based on the European species Juniperus nana Willd. (Sp. Pl. 4: 854. 1806). Pursh did not formally propose the new combination. Ewan (1979: 82) seems to support Hitchcock's notion, noting that Pursh likely did not collect specimens while in Maine in 1811. Nonetheless, there is authentic material from eastern New York gathered by Pursh that belongs to var. depressa (McVaugh, 1935: 30), and we here typify the name with that material. The variety was first found by Lewis on 17 Oct 1804 (Lewis 47, PH-LC 111, PH-LC 112) below the mouth of the Cannon Ball River in Sioux Co., North Dakota (Moulton, 1987a: 471). Either Lewis or Clark could have gathered the 7 Jul 1806 specimens (PH-LC 113 and PH-LC 114). Lewis was near Lewis and Clark Pass, Lewis and Clark Co., Montana (Moulton, 1993: 95-96); Clark and his party crossed the Continental Divided via Gibbons Pass on the Ravalli-Beaverhead Co. line (Moulton, 1993: 169-171). The plant occurs in both areas. Neither explorer mentions the plant. (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 was collected from Juniperus communis, the common Juniper tree on July 7th, 1806 as the expedition passed through Montana on their return journey westward. The Juniper tree has a circumpolar distribution around the North Pole region but in the United States, it can be found along the rocky Mountains region and in the northern Great Lakes region. Historically, infusions of the roots, leaves, bark, and branches were used to treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary issues and a decoction of its berries were used to treat venereal disease. |
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 |