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THE BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF G. W. CLINTON |
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BOTANICAL
INDEX Transcribed, with synonymy, by P. M.
Eckel |
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The botanical
collecting journal of George W. Clinton, written 1862 through 1872 and which
is conserved at the Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, New York, has two
rather unusual features: in Clinton's own handwriting there is an index to
his own botanical references in the text of the journal. One finds the
scientific name in the index, and one should be able to find in the journal
text the conditions under which the species was found. Here was distributional
information relating to the local flora around the city of Buffalo and the
general region in western New York and the peninsular region of what is now
the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Ontario, Canada. There is also
populational information, substrate, and ecological notes. This is a snapshot
of a flora that in most respects no longer exists, but was extensively
collected and documented during the 1860's. This index is also,
in a sense, an extended herbarium label. The collections Clinton made in the
days noted were pressed and mounted and sent to various institutions in the
United States and Europe. They form the basis of the ninth oldest
continuously existing herbarium in the United States, the Clinton Herbarium
(BUF) of the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, New York. Clinton's individual herbarium labels are generally without any
habitat data, and often without locality data. The journal, together with the
index presented below, is expected to provide more details (data) with respect
to the specimens residing in BUF and other herbaria that retain his
collections. Note that the index
presented here is part of an ongoing initiative by myself to transcribe and
edit Clinton's journal and the collection of his correspondence still housed
in the research library of the Buffalo Museum of Science. It is important to
gather and process this information at this time because the Buffalo Museum
has, as in so many other instances around the world, changed from a
scientific institution with a distinguished collection of specimens,
correspondence, books and other information resources that took over a
century of dedicated effort to collect and curate, into what is essentially a
science center for children, abandoning a professionally mediated 150-year
baseline study of historical change in the regional flora. The editor's
contribution here is to provide an updated nomenclature to the plants,
including a few lichens, liverworts and mosses and algae, noted in the
journal. Clinton's nomenclature follows the fifth edition of Asa Gray's
Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, including the District
East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, published
in 1867. Clinton was in active correspondence with Gray from at least 1862
regarding the identification and nomenclature of his plants. He intended to
build a scientific research collection for the city of Buffalo, but also
contributed to that of the State herbarium, located in Albany, New York
State. Clinton's interest in
garden species gives some insight into the horticultural trade in Buffalo in
the 1860's, but also, in an earlier decade, into such plants that took his
interest as they had been present in people's gardens before Clinton turned
from the law (he was a lawyer and a Superior Court Judge, and a New York
State Regent, with additional responsibilities) to botany. Such horticultural
material also was an indication of the nascent interest in forming a
distinguished horticultural garden for the city of Buffalo, now located south
of that city in Lackawanna - the South Park Conservatory. Although Clinton
himself was primarily interested in the science of botany, his great friend
and legal colleague, David F. Day, would be a prime mover in both the
horticultural institution, as well as that of the Buffalo Society of Natural
Sciences, the organization that gave rise to the Buffalo Museum of Science,
for which Clinton served as first president. His friend Day would succeed him
in that capacity after Clinton retired to Albany, New York, later in the
century (he died in 1885). Nomenclature follows
the most modern synopsis of the species occuring or to have occurred in the
State of New York by Richard S. Mitchell and Gordon C. Tucker (1997). Much
nomenclature in synonymy not mentioned in this synopsis was derived from
Homer House's extraordinary annotated list of the plants of the State,
published in 1924, wherein exhaustive synonymy is given, with particular
attention to the various early editions of Gray's Manual of Botany.
Horticultural information was derived from Liberty Hyde Bailey's Manual of
Cultivated Plants (1949). Liverwort nomenclature follows Raymond Stotler and
Barbara Crandall-Stotler's (1977) North American Checklist. Mosses follow the
North American checklist by Anderson, Crum and Buck (1990) with earlier
references from the Index Muscorum (Van der Wijk et al. 1959-1969). It is expected that
the actual text of the species entries can be collected in a future posting
to accompany this list. An example would be that for Dirca palusstris, May 5, 1866, the Leatherwood or Moosewood,
growing with an abundance of other spring wildflowers at a local favorite
haunt of rambling botanists from Buffalo, south of the city, and the State
Line Railroad, later to become a part of the Erie Railroad system: At
Smokes' Creek wood on St. L. R. R.: 'Have noticed in flower, this Spring, besides Elms, willows,
poplars, alders, maples, Caltha
palustris, Anemone nemorosa, Hepatica acutiloba, Ranunculus abortivus,
Caulophyllum, Cardamine rhomboidea, Dentaria laciniata, Dicentra cucullaria
& Canadensis, Sanguinaria, Claytonia (both), Viola cucullata &
pubescens, Stellaria media, Dirca
...' Below, all words not
actually transcribed from Clinton's collecting journal are given in square
brackets. Indexes I. Botanical. II. Local, Personal & Miscellaneous [in
progress]. Botanical Index. [All years underlined, dittoes before
each epithet under the first one.] A. Abies. 1864. June 8. Canadensis. 1862. June 19. [Abies canadensis Michx. = Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.] nigra. 1864. Sept. 2. [Black Spruce: Abies nigra Poir. = Picea
nigra (Ait.) Link = Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP] alba. 1864. Sept. 2. [White Spruce = Picea alba Link = =
Picea canadensis (Mill.) BSP = Picea glauca(Moench) Voss] Abutilon Avicennae. 1863. Aug. 5. Sept.
11. Oct. 4. 1864. Sept. 10, 12. Oct. 18. [Abutilon avicennae Gaertn. = Abutilon
theophrasti Medik.] Acalypha Virginica. 1862. Sept. 11. 13.
1867. p. 205. [Acalypha virginica L., Three-seeded Mercury] Acer. 1864. May. 1. 1865. June 4. 1866.
May 5. ? [sic] 1862.
June 6. spicatum. 1862. June 20. [Acer spicatum Lam., Mountain Maple] Pennsylvanicum. 1863. May
28. June 25. 1874. Oct. 18. [Acer pensylvanicum L. Striped Maple] saccharinum. 1864. May
12. June 10. 1868. May 15. [Acer saccharinum L., Silver Maple] nigrum. [Acer nigrum Michx. f. Black Maple] dasycarpum. 1863. Ap. 23
[crossed out: 24. May 10: probably reidentified.] 1864. June 7. [Acer dasycarpum Ehrh. = Acer
saccharinum L.] rubrum. 1863. Ap. 23. 24.
May 10. [Acer rubrum L. Red Maple] Achillea millefolium. 1863. June 18.
Aug. 2. [Achillea millefolium L., Common Yarrow] tomentosa. 1867. June 11. [Achillea tomentosa Pursh = A. lanulosa
Nutt. = A. millefolium var. occidentalis DC. Aconitum napellus. 1864. July 18. [Aconitum napellus L. Turk's-cap, Garden
Monk's-hood, Wolf's-bane, cultivated.] Acorus Calamus. 1862. June 24. [Acorus calamus of American authors, not
L. = Acorus americanus (Raf.) Raf. Sweet Flag] Actaea spicata. 1864. July 15. [Actaea spicata var. alba L. = A. alba
(L.) Mill. White Baneberry = Actaea pachypoda Ell. [Actaea spicata var. rubra Ait. = A.
rubra (Ait.) Willd. Red Baneberry
= Actaea spicata
ssp. rubra (Ait.) Hulten] Adiantum pedatum. 1862. Aug. 4. [Adiantum pedatum L. Maidenhair Fern] Adlumia cirrhosa. 1864. June 15. 30.
Oct. 3. [Adlumia cirrhosa Raf. = Adlumia
fungosa (Ait.) Greene ex BSP.
Allegheny Vine, Mountain Fringe, Climbing Fumitory] Aesculus glabra. 1862. May 21. [Aesculus glabra Willd. Ohio Buckeye] hippocastanum [DATE?] [Aesculus hippocastanum L.
Horse-chestnut] flava. 1864. June 16. [Aesculus flava Ait., Sweet Buckeye,
"Rich woods, Virginia to Ohio, Indiana, and southward. p. 118 Ed 5] Pavia. 1865. May 30. [Aesculus Pavia L., Red Buckeye
"Fertile valleys, Virginia, Kentucky, and southward." Gray's Manual
ed 5 p. 115]. Aethusa Cynapium. 1863. Sept. 17. [Aethusa cynapium L. Fool's-Parsley in
the Apiaceae, cultivated] Ageratum. 1862. Sept. 14. [Ageratum conyzoides L. Wild Ageratum =
Eupatorium coelestinum Mistflower, Wild Ageratum, Blue Boneset, Purple
Boneset, cultivated] Agrimonia eupatoria. 1862. July 9. 26. [Agrimonia eupatoria L., Agrimony,
Cocklebur, cultivated] Agrostemma Githago. 1862. July 9. [Agrostemma githago L. Corn-cockle,
Corn-rose, Purple Cockle, cultivated] Agrostis. 1864. July 7. 13. 1865. July
19. 22. 1866. Sept. 20. 23. scabra. 1863. Aug. 21. [Agrostis scabra Willd. Hairgrass,
Fly-away Grass, Ticklegrass] vulgaris. [Agrostis vulgaris With. = Agrostis
tenuis Sibth. = Agrostis capillaris L., Colonial bent, Rhode Island bent,
cultivated] alba. 1863. July 24.
Sept. 6. 22. 1864. June 28. [Agrostis alba of authors, not L. =
Agrostis stolonifera var. major (Gaud.) Farw. = Agrostis gigantea Roth,
Redtop, Black Bent, cultivated.] [in pencil: perennans?] 1865. July
19. 22. [Agrostis perennans (Walt.)
Tuckerm. Autumn Bent, Upland Bent] Ailanthus glandulosus. 1878. Oct. 12. [Ailanthus glandulosa Desf. = Ailanthus
altissima (Mill.) Swingle, Tree of Heaven] Aira caespitosa. 1864. July 7. 1865.
June 15. [Aira caespitosa L. = Deschampsia
caespitosa (L.) Beauv. Tufted Hairgrass] flexuosa. 1864. July 12. [Aira flexuosa L. = Deschampsia flexuosa
(L.) Trin. Common Hairgrass] Alisma plantago. 1862. July 15. [Alisma plantago-aquatica of American
authors in part not L., = Alisma subcordatum Raf., Water-plantain.] Allium 1862. June 13. Canadense. 1862. June 1. 28.
July 11. 1864. July 6. 1878. May 7. [Allium canadense L. Wild Garlic, Wild
Onion] tricoccum. 1862. June 25. July 11. 1863. Ap. 26. [Allium tricoccum Ait., Wild Leek, Ramp] Schoenoprasum. 1864. July
16. [Gray in the Fifth Edition of his manual
lists A. schoenoprasum, the "Var. with recurved tips to the sepals (A.
Sibiricum, L.) Shore of Lakes Huron, Superior, and northward." p. 534 as
introduced from Europe (the Garden Chives). The variety sibiricum is considered
native, but has usually been lumped with the European species as an
introduction]. Allosorus atropurpureus. 1862. Sept. 11.
1863. Sept. 11. [Allosorus atropurpureus (L.) Kunze ex Presl. = Pellaea
atropurpurea (L.) Link, Purple Cliff-brake] Alnus. 1864. Ap. 4. 29. 1866. May 5.
1867. Sept. 21. 1878. Oct. 29. incana. 1863. Ap. 10. June
12. 1864. May 24. [Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Speckled
Alder] serrulata. 1864. May 24.
July 4. Nov. 1. [Alnus serrulata (of Day, 1882) = Alnus
incana ssp. rugosa (DuRoi) Clausen, Hazel Alder] Alopecurus aristulatus. 1862. Aug. 3. [Alopecurus aristulatus Michx. =
Alopecurus aequalis Sobol, Short-awned Foxtail] geniculatus. 1863. June
10. 24. [Alopecurus geniculatus L. Marsh
Foxtail] Alsine Michauxii. 1864. June 1. [Alsine Michauzii Fenzl = Arenaria
stricta Michx. = Minuartia michauxii (Fenzl) Farw. Rock Sand-wort] Groenlandica. 1863. July
31. [This is perhaps a mistake by Clinton
for Arenaria groenlandica (Retz.) Spreng. in Gray's Fifth edition. Its
current name is Minuartia groenlandica Retz.) Ostenf., Mountain Sand-wort] Althaea rosea. 1862. Oct. 7. 1863. Aug.
15. [Althaea rosea (L.) Cav. = Alcea rosea
L. Garden Hollyhock] ficifolia. 1862. Oct. 7. [Althaea filicifolia Cav. is an unusual
cultivated plant, not often grown with large lemon-yellow to orange flowers
in terminal spikes; European.] Alyssum. 1864. July 10. calycinum. 1863. June 5.
Sept. 11. 14. 1864. July 8. Sept. 12. 13. 1867. Oct. 3. 1868. June 16. 1875.
June 27. [Alyssum calycinum L. = Alyssum
alyssoides (l.) L., Yellow Alyssum] Amarantus. 1864. Nov. 1. 1865. Sept. 7.
1866. Sept. 14. hypochondriacus. 1865. Aug.
25. [Amaranthus hypochondriacus L., Prince's
Feather] hybridus [Amaranthus hybridus L., Green Amaranth,
Pigweed, Prince's-Feather] retroflexus [Amaranthus retroflexus L., Green
Amaranth, Pigweed] [spinosus. 1865. Sept.
10. 1866. Sept. 15. 23. 1868. Sept. 5. Amaranthus spinosus L., Spiny Amaranth] albus. [Amaranthus albus L., Tumbleweed, Pale
Amaranth] melancholicus. [Amaranthus melancholicus L. =
Amaranthus tricolor L., a garden plant.] polygonoides. 1863. Aug.
4. 1864. Oct. 15. [Amaranthus polygonoides L. is a native
plant, but only in Texas, Florida and South Carolina.] Ambrosia trifida. 1862. July 27. [Ambrosia trifida L., Great Ragweed,
Giant Ragweed] " " var. 1865. Sept. 10. [There is, in synonymy with the above,
an A. trifida var. integrifolia (Muhl.) Torr. & Asa Gray] artemisiaefolia. [Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., Common
Ragweed] Amelanchier Canadensis. 1862. May 13.
1863. Sept. 15. 1864. May 17. 1866. May 5. [Amelanchier canadensis (L.) Medik.,
Canadian Shadbush, Serviceberry, Juneberry] Ammannia humilis. 1864. Ap. 4. [Ammania humilis Michx. = Ammania
ramosior L. = Rotala ramosior (L.) Koehne ex Mart., Tooth-cup, rare in New
York State, a species in the Lythraceae; Ammannia is an alternative spelling,
House 1924. latifolia. 1864. Ap. 4. [As Ammannia latifolia L. in the Fifth
edition of Gray's Manual "Ohio, Illinois, and southward. Ship-yards,
Philadelphia, an immigrant from the south, C. F. Parker" (p. 182); this
is a species native to the southern United States.] Amphicarpaea monoica. 1862. Aug. 11. [Amphicarpaea monoica (L.) Ell. =
Amphicarpaea bracteata (L.) Rickett & Stafleu, Hog Peanut.] Ampelopsis qinquefolia. 1862. July 16. [Ampelopsis quinquefolia (L.) Michx. =
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch ex DC., Virginia Creeper] Anacharis Canadensis. 1862. June 13. [Anacharis canadensis (Rich ex Michx.)
Planch. = Elodea canadensis Rich ex Michx., Waterweed] Anagallis arvensis. 1862. Sept. 14. [Anagallis arvensis L., Scarlet
Pimpernel] Andromeda polifolia. 1864. Aug. 13.
1866. July 18. 1875. Oct. 15. 16. 1877.June 18-20. [Andromeda polifolia varieties =
Andromeda glaucophylla Link, Bog Rosemary] Andropogon furcatus. 1863. Aug. 6. 11.
18. Sept. 11. Oct. 17. 1864. Sept. 6. [Andropogon furcatus Muhl. = Andropogon
gerardii Vitm., Big Bluestem] " scoparius. 1863. Sept. 4. 9. 11. [Andropogon scoparius Michx. var.
scoparius = Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash ssp. scoparium, Little
Bluestem] Anemone nemorosa. 1862. May 11. 13. July
9. 1866. May 5. [Anemone nemorosa var. quinquefolia (L.)
Pursh = Anemone quinquefolia L. Wood Anemone, Snowdrops] cylindrica. 1862. July 3
& 4. 9. 1866. July 11. [Anemone cylindrical Gray, Long-fruited
Anemone, Thimbleweed] Virginica. 1862. June 26. [Anemone virginiana L., Thimbleweed] Pennnsylvanica. 1862.
June 8. 1865. June 21. 1876. June 13. [Anemone pennsylvanica L. = Anemone
canadensis L. Canada Anemone, Windflower] multifida. 1864. June 2. [Anemone multifida Poir. ex Lam.,
Cut-leaf Anemone, a native species in New York State, now considered to have
been extirpated (Mitchell & Tucker 1997 p. 31.] Anethum foeniculum. 1862. Oct. 9. |