Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PH-LC 110 |
Object Name |
Specimen |
Title |
Iris missouriensis |
Other Name |
Western Blue Flag |
Collector |
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark |
Date |
1806 |
Description |
Pursh (1813: 30) refers the Lewis and Clark specimen to Iris sibirica L. (Sp. Pl.: 39. 1753). The specimen probably was not sterile give the reference in Pursh to a flower color. The specimen is dated 5 Jul 1806 but on 6 Jul Lewis reports he "saw the common small blue flag" and "preserved speciemines of them" (Moulton, 1993: 93). Lewis collected the plant in Nevada Valley, Powell Co., Montana, on 6 Jul 1806, at what he called "the prarie of the knobs" (Moulton, 1993: 93). (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. On July 6th 1806 in the Nevada Valley in Montana, Lewis collected this specimen of Iris missouriensis, commonly referred to as Rocky Mountain Iris and in Lewis’ notes as common small blue flag. This plant is native to the western part of the United States and was used frequently by various indigenous communities across these regions. In present day Montana, indigenous people used a decoction of the root as an emetic, to induce vomiting as medically necessary. |
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 |