Research Training Program

Bonnie Epstein
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island

Larry Dorr, Ph.D.
Project Advisor
Department of Botany

"The single most effective way to encourage women in the sciences, indeed, anyone in the sciences, is to allow them to participate in world class research like that at the Smithsonian."

The Plant Collections and Itineraries of S.B. Buckley

S.B. Buckley (1809-1884) was one of the first botanists to collect in the southern Appalachian mountains. Not only did his trip of 1842 yield many new species, but it now offers insights into the European/American relationships of the time and the state of early American botanical collecting.

Samuel Botsford Buckley (1809-1884) played an important supporting role in the study of natural history in the United States during the nineteenth century. Twice state geologist of Texas and an enthusiastic collector of fossils, Buckley's great love was actually botany. At a period in America's adolescence, when she was attempting to become intellectually independent from Europe, Buckley made plant collecting trips into poorly explored states and territories. His expeditions, and the material he collected, allowed American botanists the satisfaction of naming and classifying their own flora. One of Buckley's more intriguing forays was made to the southern Appalachian mountains in the spring and summer of 1842. Not only did this trip highlight the tensions between American and European botanists (although not, interestingly enough, between northern and southern United States), but it also produced a number of new species and clarifications of old ones. Although Buckley labeled the location of his types exceptionally broadly, sometimes noting only the state in which they were found, he kept a detailed journal of his journey. Unfortunately, the journal was lost, and no complete record of this trek has ever been found. This situation leaves researchers with a somewhat limited understanding of Buckley's types . Although the flora which he was the first to describe may now be considered completely known, it is in the best interest of thoroughness to find out where Buckley's types were found as narrowly as possible. Although no complete record of Buckley's 1842 trip to the southern Appalachians exists, it was hoped that an itinerary might be pieced together through various sources: journal articles written by Buckley as well as letters from Buckley and his contemporaries. This project focuses on using such documents as those described above to reconstruct S.B. Buckley's 1842 plant collecting trip as thoroughly as possible. A rough draft of about twenty five pages has been produced which outlines Buckley's activities on that journey. Sketches of three maps were also made to accompany the article which indicate Buckley's route through the mountains, where it is now, as well as the origin of most of the types which he collected on that trip. This is the most complete treatment yet of Buckley's travels of 1842 in the mountains of Georgia and the Carolinas.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (Award: BIR-9300225).