Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PH-LC 31 |
Object Name |
Specimen |
Title |
Aster eatonii |
Other Name |
Eaton's Aster |
Collector |
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark |
Date |
1805 |
Description |
Robinson and Greenman misidentify this collection and Meehan (1898: 32) reports it as Aster oreganus (Nutt.) Torr. & A. Gray (Fl. N. Amer. 2: 163. 1841), a name now considered a synonym of A. subspicatus Lindl. (in Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 11. 1834). The sheet was annotated subsequently by Erica Armstrong as A. oregonensis (Nutt.) Cronquist (in Univ. Wash. Publ. Biol. 17(5): 91. 1955), which is a totally unrelated taxon more properly called Seriocarpus oregonensis Nutt. (in Trans. APS., Ser. II, 7: 302. 1840). Cutright (1969: 403) also confused A. oreganus with A. oregonensis. Eaton's aster is fairly common along the Snake River in Washington where the plant was gathered in October 1805. The expedition traveled along the Snake from 11 Oct until 20 Oct (Moulton, 1988: 261-313). The name A. eatonii may be replaced as ongoing research is demonstrating that Aster should be divided into several small genera. The combination, Symphyotrichum eatonii (A. Gray) Nesom (in Phytologia 82: 283. 1998), recently has been proposed. (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. Eaton's aster, Symphyotrichum eatonii (previously called Aster eatonii) is frequently found along the Snake River in Washington where Lewis and Clark gathered this specimen in October 1805. In addition to Washington state, this flowering perennial can be found along the entire western coast and the Rocky Mountains regions of the Western United States and Canada. |
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 |