Under Erysimum lanceolatum Ait. (Hort. Kew., ed. 2, 4: 116. 1810), Pursh (1813: 436) says "On the banks of the Missouri . . . June." This might be a reference to a Nuttall collection, but it may have applied to the Lewis and Clark collection labeled by Pursh as "On the Kooskooskie / Jun: 1st- 1806." Meehan (1898: 18), Cutright (1969: 408) and Moulton (in press) list the sheet as E. asperum (Nutt.) DC. (Syst. Veg. 2: 505. 1821). According to Rollins, E. lanceolatum is a synonym of var. purshii. The following is material added to this electronic publication (E. E. Spamer and R. M. McCourt, PH). Moulton (1999, pl. 64) identified this material as Erysimum asperum (Nutt.) DC. (The Lewis & Clark Herbarium Digital Imagery Study Set, ANSP, 2002) On deposit at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia Collected by:Meriwether Lewis & William Clark Collection date:05/08/1806

The initial Lewis collection (PH-LC 85) was obtained on 8 May 1806 somewhere along the Clearwater River between Big Canyon Creek in Nez Perce Co. and Little Canyon Creek in Clearwater Co., Idaho (Moulton, 1991: 215-220). A second collection was made on 15 Jun 1806 when the party was along the Lolo Trail in Idaho Co., Idaho. Here Lewis and Clark were north of Lolo Creek and camped that evening along Eldorado Creek near the mouth of Lunch Creek (Moulton, 1993: 25-27). It is upon this latter element that Pursh bases his description of the species. In his journal entry for 16 Jun, Lewis mentions "the dogtooth violet is just in blume" (Moulton, 1993: 28) at a higher elevation than where they were the previous day. Meehan (1898: 43), Coues (1898: 313), Cutright (1969: 408), and Moulton (1993: 30) state the lectotype was found on 5 Jun 1806. Nonetheless, the label clearly gives the date as 15 Jun. We can not account for this consistent error especially since Lewis and Clark give listings of the plants they observed on 5 Jun and neither mentions a dogtooth violet (Moulton, 1991: 335, 337). We have no reason to believe the label has been altered in recent years. Meehan refers the paratype to Erythronium grandiflorum var. parviflorum S. Watson (in Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 26: 129. 1891). This distinction based on flower size alone is not worthy of formal taxonomic consideration (Reveal, in Cronquist et al., 1977: 492). (The Lewis & Clark Herbarium Digital Imagery Study Set, ANSP, 2002) On deposit at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia Collected by:Meriwether Lewis & William Clark Collection date:06/15/1806