HEBERLING LAB

  • Welcome
  • People
  • Publications
  • Photos
  • Collected on this day!
  • Welcome
  • People
  • Publications
  • Photos
  • Collected on this day!

Collected on this day...

a weekly blog featuring specimens in the Carnegie Museum herbarium.
Each specimen has an important scientific and cultural story to tell.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant no. DBI 1612079 (2017-2019) and DBI 1801022 (2019-2022). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

June 1830: 189 years ago

6/7/2019

Comments

 
Picture
This is a special specimen.  The Carnegie Museum herbarium is full of specimens of scientific and historical importance.  And this is a notable one, collected in June 1830 by William Darlington in West Chester, Pennsylvania.  William Darlington (1782-1863) was an important figure in the history of Pennsylvania botany. Darlington was a physician, politician (US House of Representatives 1815-1823),  and as  you might guess – a botanist!  At the University of Pennsylvania, Darlington studied botany under Benjamin Smith Barton, a well-known botanist who also trained Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis & Clark Expedition). Darlington wrote several He spent most of his life in West Chester, PA. He wrote some of the earliest botanical works, including a flora of Chester County in 1826 and others on agriculture.  Many of his specimens are among the earliest documentation of Pennsylvania’s flora and are preserved in the William Darlington herbarium at West Chester University.
 
This particular specimen is of the native shrub Euonymus americanus, commonly called “strawberry  bush.”  Despite the name, it is not related to strawberries, but in the bittersweet/spindle family, Celastraceae.  You may recognize some similarities with the related species from East Asia, burning bush  (Euonymus alatus), which is commonly planted for its bright red fall color (around Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh, and many other places).  However, burning bush should not be planted, as it is invasive, spreading into natural areas.
 
In the Carnegie Museum herbarium, there are 62 specimens collected by Darlington between 1828 and 1840, mostly from Chester County, PA. 
 
How’d some of Darlington’s specimens end up at the Carnegie Museum?  This specimen was part of Jacob Wolle’s personal collection, who was the grandfather of William Holland, the first director of the museum.
 
This specimen image is now publicly available online: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=12131484&clid=0
 
Read more about  Darlington and other influential figures in the history of Pennsylvania botany at Herbarium World: https://herbariumworld.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/william-darlington-and-the-pennsylvanica-botanical-circle/
Picture
Comments

    RSS Feed

      Suggest a specimen!

      Your birthday, favorite species, collected by your house, a particular collector, etc...?
      [object Object]
    Submit

    Archives

    January 2025
    October 2024
    January 2024
    September 2023
    May 2023
    October 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Amaryllidaceae
    Anacardiaceae
    Apiaceae
    Apocynaceae
    Aquifoliaceae
    Araceae
    Araliaceae
    Asparagaceae
    Asteraceae
    Balsaminaceae
    Betulaceae
    Boraginaceae
    Brassicaceae
    Cactaceae
    Caprifoliaceae
    Caricaceae
    Caryophyllaceae
    Celastraceae
    Climate Change
    Convolvulaceae
    Cornaceae
    Cucurbitaceae
    Cultivated
    Cupressaceae
    Dioscoreaceae
    Dryopteridaceae
    Ericaceae
    Euphorbiaceae
    Fabaceae
    Fagaceae
    Geraniaceae
    Hamamelidaceae
    Holiday Posts
    Introduced Species
    Lamiaceae
    Lauraceae
    Life History Series
    Liliaceae
    Limnanthaceae
    Lycopodiaceae
    Magnoliaceae
    Malvaceae
    Melanthiaceae
    Melastomataceae
    Montiaceae
    Myristicaceae
    Oleaceae
    Onagraceae
    Orobanchaceae
    Oxalidaceae
    Papaveraceae
    Paulowniaceae
    Pinaceae
    Plantaginaceae
    Plants Of The Anthropocene
    Poaceae
    Poisonous
    Polemoniaceae
    Polygonaceae
    Primulaceae
    Pteridaceae
    Ranunculaceae
    Recollected
    Recollection
    Rhamnaceae
    Rosaceae
    Rubiaceae
    Salicaceae
    Santalaceae
    Sapindaceae
    Scrophulariaceae
    Simaroubaceae
    Solanaceae
    Staphyleaceae
    Type Specimens
    Ulmaceae
    Undetermined
    Urban Plants
    Violaceae
    Vitaceae