Montana Native Plant Society

Focused on Native Plants and Plant Communities of Montana

Instagram logo with link to mnps instagram account
“…to preserve, conserve, and study Montana’s native plants and plant communities.”

  • Home
  • What’s New
  • Membership
  • Publications
    • Kelseya Recent Issues
    • Kelseya Archive
    • Kelseya Selected Reprints
    • Lewis and Clark Plants
    • Montana’s Pioneer Botanists
    • Other Montana Native Plant Society publications
    • Native plant links
  • Activities
    • Annual Meetings
    • MNPS Presents – Online Programs
    • Chapters
    • At-Large Areas
    • Summer Field Trips Statewide
  • State Society
    • Board of Directors
    • Elections
    • Policies
    • Small Grants Program
  • Conservation
    • Conservation
    • Conservation Issues
    • Conservation Conference
    • Montana Species of Concern Threat Assignment
    • Important Plant Areas
  • Landscaping
    • Native Plant Landscaping
    • Flathead Valley Native Plant Landscaping
    • Helena Area Native Plant Landscaping
    • Missoula & West-Central Montana Native Plant Landscaping
    • Lackschewitz – Preece Montana Native Botanic Garden

Lewis and Clark Plants

When Lewis and Clark were in Montana they collected an unknown number of vascular plant specimens.  Of all the specimens collected, 31 still exist and are housed in the Lewis and Clark Herbarium in Philadelphia. This page links to beautifully illustrated articles that originally appeared in the Kelseya about these 31 special Montana plants generally, species specifically, and a list of sources for further study. These articles are all PDF format.

Plants Collected in Montana During the Lewis and Clark Expedition and Housed in the Lewis and Clark Herbarium at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (pdf)

Lewis and Clark Plants Collected Elsewhere that Occur in Montana (pdf)

Lewis and Clark species specific series.

  • Atriplex gardneri (Gardner’s saltbush) (pdf)
  • Balsamorhiza sagittata (arrow-leaf balsamroot) (pdf)
  • Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover) (pdf)
  • Dasiphora fruticosa (shrubby cinquefoil) (pdf)
  • Elaeagnus commutata (American silverberry) (pdf)
  • Euphorbia marginata (snow-on-the-mountain) (pdf)  
  • Gaillardia aristata (blanketflower) (pdf)
  • Hesporostipa comata (needle-and-thread grass) (pdf)
  • Hordeum jubatum (foxtail barley) (pdf)
  • Iris missouriensis (Rocky Mountan iris) (pdf)
  • Juniperus communis var. depressa (common juniper) (pdf)
  • Lewisia rediviva (bitterroot) (pdf)
  • Linum lewisii (Lewis’s Blue Flax) (pdf)
  • Lonicera involucrata (twin-berry honeysuckle) (pdf)
  • Lupinus argenteus (silvery lupine) (pdf)
  • Lupinus sericeus (silky lupine) (pdf)
  • Mimulus guttatus (common monkey flower) (pdf)
  • Oenothera cespitosa (gumbo evening primrose) (pdf)  
  • Orthocarous tenuifolius (thin-leaved owl clover) (pdf)
  • Oxytropis besseyi (Bessey’s locoweed) (pdf)
  • Pedicularis cystopteridifolia (fern-leaf lousewort) (pdf)
  • Pedicularis groenlandica (elephanthead pedicularis) (pdf) 
  • Philadelphus lewisii (Lewis’s mock orange; syringa) (pdf)
  • Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa (black cottonwood) (pdf)
  • Purshia tridentata (bitterbrush) (pdf)
  • Ribes aureum (golden currant) (pdf)
  • Sarcobatus vermiculatus (greasewood) (pdf)
  • Sedum stenopetalum (worm-leaved stonecrop) (pdf)
  • Sphaeralcea coccinea (scarlet globemallow) (pdf)
  • Trifolium microcephalum (small-headed clover) (pdf)
  • Zigadenus elegans (mountain death camas) (pdf)

Sources of information

  • Sources (pdf)  

KELSEYA, the MNPS newsletter,

is published four times a year and is included with your membership.
 Kelseya contains timely articles about Montana plants and their communities, listings of chapter and state meetings and field trips, and updates on native plant issues.

For questions about MNPS,

including becoming a member or chapter policies or programs, contact our Vice-President, Robert Pal.




We appreciate your support and wish to acknowledge your donation in our newsletter!

Chapters

For information about activities in your area, or to seek information about plants or resources in your area, please contact the chapter closest to you (click on Activities Drop Down Menu at the top of this page): Calypso (Dillon, Butte, Southwest Montana; Clark Fork, (Missoula, West Central Montana); Kelsey (Greater Helena and Great Falls areas,  and regions associated with the Rocky Mountain Front and central and north central Montana.); Flathead (Northwest Montana, Glacier Park); Maka Flora (Eastern Montana); Valley of Flowers (greater Bozeman area), or check out the Eastern- or Western-at-Large Areas on the same menu.

MT Native Plants Society Contact

To write or comment…

Montana Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 8783
Missoula, MT 59807-8783

For comments on this website, including updates and corrections, contact
 Bob Person

Copyright © 2022 Montana Native Plant Society
Home Log in