View Abstract
Meehan (1898: 25) reports the specimen as Prunus demissa (Nutt.) D. Dietr. (Syn. Pl. 3: 43. 1842), a synonym of P. virginiana. Pursh makes no mention of the Lewis and Clark material, nor does he include "Missouri" in his distribution statement. The label states: "A Cherry found near the beaver bents on the Missouri." The date given is 10 Aug 1806.
On this date Lewis spent most of the day at his camp in Williams Co., North Dakota, and late in the afternoon his party floated down the Missouri River to a camp near present-day Williston in McKenzie Co. at a point a little above the Little Muddy River. On 11 Aug, the group continued down river, stopping occasionally to hunt. At midday, Lewis went elk hunting and was shot in the thigh by one of his men. After receiving care for the wound, they continued to a camp just above the mouth of the White Earth River in Mountrail Co. (Moulton, 1993: 153-159). On 12 Aug, Lewis writes:
"as wrighting in my present situation is extreemlly painfull to me I shall desist untill I recover and leave to my frind Capt. C. the continuation of our journal. However I must notice a single Cherry which is found on the Missouri in the bottom lands about the beaver bends and some little Distance below the white earth river" (Moulton, 1993: 158).
He then proceeds to write a detailed description of the plant. Given what is said on the label and in his journal, Lewis probably had one of his men collect the specimen on 12 Aug 1806 just down river from the mouth of White Earth River in Mountrail Co., North Dakota. The site is now under Garrison Reservoir. This would be Lewis's last entry into a journal for the remainder of the trip.
However, it must be noted that Clark describes the species in his journal on 10 Aug 1806. Moulton (1993: 287-288) is of the opinion that Clark took his description from Lewis's journal. On that date - the one given on the label - Clark states "I found a Species of Cherry in the bottom the Srub or bush which are different from any which I have ever Seen and not very abundant even in the Small tract of country" (p. 287). This "Small tract of country" is the same area Lewis would travel through on 11 Aug. It is not clear, therefore, if PH-LC 180 is a Clark specimen, or one that Lewis had someone gather for him on 12 Aug. If the pressed specimen is the one found by Clark on 10 Aug, it came from a site now under the Garrison Reservoir in McKenzie Co., North Dakota
(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:08/10/1806
