Plants mentioned in John Muir's book A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf

This World Wide Web page written by Dan Styer;
http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/Muir/ThousandMilePlants.html;
10 October 2012.


On this walk, Muir carried the Class-Book of Botany: Being Outlines of the Structure, Physiology, and Classification of Plants; with a Flora of the United States and Canada by Alphonso Wood. I used this book to decipher some of the plant names used by Muir. The Plant List also helps in deciphering obsolete scientific names. Muir's original handwritten journal is useful as well.

Date Name used by Muir Name used today
4 September hazel American hazelnut (Corylus americana)
4 September "a strange oak with willow-looking leaves" Willow oak (Quercus phellos)
4 September black oak Black oak (Quercus velutina)
6 September Cystopteris Bladder fern (Cystopteris)
6 September Hypnum Hypnum moss (Hypnum)
7 September mistletoe Oak mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum)
10 September Ericaceae Heath family (Ericaceae)
10 September Osmunda cinnamomea Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
10 September Osmunda regalis Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)
10 September Osmunda Claytoniana Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana)
10 September sensitive brier (Schrankia) Littleleaf sensitive-briar (Mimosa microphylla)
11 September green brier or cat-brier (probably) Saw greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox var. hederaefolia)
12 September Dicksonia Eastern hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)
12 September "a small matted polypod on trees" Resurrection fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides)
12 September "magnolia with very large leaves and scarlet conical fruit" (probably) Umbrella magnolia (Magnolia tripetala)
12 September Madotheca [scale-moss] Porella [Liverwort]
14 September Polypodium hexagonopterum Broad beech fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera)
14 September Aspidium acrostichoides Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
14 September Osmunda claytoniana Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana)
14 September Dicksonia Eastern hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)
14 September Asplenium ebeneum Ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron)
14 September Cystopteris Bladder fern (Cystopteris)
14 September Asplenium filix-foemina Lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina)
14 September Pteris aquilina Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)
15 September liatris Blazing star (Liatris)
19 September ginseng American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)
20 September Ilex Holly (tree) (Ilex)
23 September water oak Water oak (Quercus nigra)
23 September muscadine grape Muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia)
30 September gerardia False foxglove (Agalinis)
30 September long-leafed pine Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)
1 October passion flower "apricot vine" Purple passion flower (Passiflora incarnata)
1 October Spanish Moss or Long Moss Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides)
1 October cypress, a taxodium Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
2 October Agrostis scabra Rough bentgrass (Agrostis scabra)
3 October saw palmetto Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens)
3 October dwarf live-oak Dwarf live oak (Quercus minima)
5 October banana Banana (Musa)
8 October Magnolia grandiflora Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
9 October live-oak Live oak (Quercus virginiana)
9 October sparkleberry Farkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum)
tupelo Tupelo (Nyssa)
15 October mangrove Red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle)
15 October Pinus Cubensis Cuban pine (Pinus cubensis)
15 October palmetto Cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto)
16 October lycopodium clubmoss (Lycopodium or Lycopodiella or Huperzia)
19 October polygonum Knotweed (Polygonum)
19 October petalostemon Prairie clover (Dalea)
Cedar Keys dwarf palmetto Dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor)
Cedar Keys juniper Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Cedar Keys live-oak, sketched "on the opposite page" For Muir's sketch, see image 74 of his journal.
Cedar Keys Spanish bayonet Moundlily yucca (Yucca gloriosa)
Cedar Keys Opuntia Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia)
Cedar Keys Opuntia, "sketched on another page" For Muir's sketch, see image 77 of his journal.