Common To This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis and Clark.Today, many people take Echinacea to ward off a cold--a remedy that seems to be ancient in its heritage. However, before Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's famed 1084-to-1806 expedition, the substance's source, the coneflower coneflower, name for several American wildflowers of the family Asteraceae (aster family). The purple coneflowers (genus Echinacea), found E of the Rockies, have purple to pinkish petallike rays; some cultivated forms have white flowers. , was unknown. It was one of some 226 new plants documented on the trip across what is now the western United States Noun 1. western United States - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River West Santa Fe Trail - a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century . This book profiles 25 botanical specimens collected by the duo, including Osage orange, snowberry snowberry, name for several shrubby plants bearing white berries, especially species of the genus Symphoricarpos which is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Dipsacales, family Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle family). , camas, bearberry bearberry, any plant of the northern and alpine genus Arctostaphylos of the family Ericaceae (heath family), especially A. uvaursi, a trailing evergreen sometimes cultivated as a ground cover. , and ponderosa pine. Each vignette relates the discovery--often in Lewis' own words--and further details the history of the plant since that time. There is also cursory information about the growth and flowering of the plant, as well as a beautiful color illustration. Artisan, 2003, 128 p., color illus., hardcover, $22.95. |
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