New Brunswick has four species of Trilliums. They are in full bloom now and worth finding in order to enjoy their beauty. Trilliums are in the Lily Family and are spring flowers growing in woodlands, especially hardwoods. Their leaves are in a single whorl of 3 and the single flowers are large. Everything comes in 3s with trilliums; 3 petals, 3 sepals, 3 leaves.
The Painted Trillium grows 8-20″ high. The flower (shown above) is white with beautiful crimson veining at the base of each petal. It likes coniferous woods more than the other species.
The Nodding Trillium grows 6-20″ high and hides its flower by suspending it under the leaves. It ‘nods’ beneath the leaves. The flower is white with pink anthers. The petals are curved backward at the tips. It likes rich deciduous woods and floodplains. It is also called Birthroot because native people once used the root to assist in childbirth.
The Purple Trillium is probably our most common trillium. It is found in hardwood forests. It grows 6-20″ high. Its beautiful purple colour is good to look at but don’t try to smell this one; it has a foul odour. That explains why it is sometimes called Stinking Benjamin.
The White Trillium is our largest and rarest trillium. It is the provincial flower of Ontario and occurs here in only one or two known places. It grows 12-20″ high. Its flower is 2-4″ wide and is very showy. The white flower turns pink with age. It is easy to distinguish from the Nodding Trillium which also has a white flower because the White Trillium’s flower is upright and much larger. It also has yellow stamens, differing from the pink anthers of the Nodding Trillium. The White Trillium is sometimes called the Large-flowered Trillium.
Botany was one of the few socially acceptable scientific activities for Victorian women. As noted in a previous blog article [Four Women Plant Collectors...] some women played a significant role in advancing the knowledge of native plants in 19th century Canada. They collected plants, learned their names and often pressed and mounted these botanical specimens for their personal herbarium. To help identify a plant and to communicate this knowledge to others, good detailed drawings of the specimen was a common pursuit. And thus botanical illustrations soon became a blend of science and art to show the unique features of a specific plant.
The botanical artists in 19th century Canada were primarily women and by the early 1800’s painting schools were established to teach women the artistic skills to render native plants as accurately as possible. These illustrations were often drawn from nature and the plants were identified by their scientific name. Some artists would compile their paintings into albums to be viewed and studied by family, friends and a broader non-scientific audience. These albums were very popular in Canada in the 1800’s and likely served as an early form of a plant identification guidebook of local flora.
In this article, I want to highlight three botanical artists from the Maritimes during the Victorian era.
Maria Morris Miller (1810-1875), was an exceptional artist among a group of Maritime ladies who made floral paintings and botanical illustrations of native plants in Nova Scotia. She was a botanical artist, a teacher and the first Nova Scotian woman to be recognized as a professional artist. Her illustrations received international praise at Exhibitions in London and Paris. Throughout her career she created over 90 illustrations of 146 species of flowers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and eastern Canada.
Actoea Alba & Ruba, Red and White Baneberry. Watercolour by Maria Morris Miller, 1853. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Pontederia cordata ‘Pickerel Weed’ and Sagittaria variabilis ‘Common Arrowhead’. Watercolour by Maria Morris Miller, 1853. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
“Renowned for their aesthetic quality as well as their botanical accuracy, her works are an important early contribution to the appreciation of the local natural world. By virtue of their subject matter and approach, her botanical illustrations created an avenue of artistic expression particularly accessible to other women artists of the era.” New Brunswick Museum
Maria Morris Miller compiled her botanical illustrations of native plants into albums for local patrons which ultimately led to her 1840 publication of “Wildflowers of Nova Scotia”. In 1866, she published The Wild Flowers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and a year later, she re-issued her first collection as Wild Flowers of British North America. In these publications, scientific notes were provided by Professor George Lawson and Secretaries of Agriculture for Nova Scotia. Her collaboration with scientists supports the view that botanical illustrations are both art and science. Some of her works can be found in Library and Archives Canada (Peter Winkworth Collection of Canadiana) and in the New Brunswick Museum.
Maria Morris Miller taught drawing and painting to women not only in Nova Scotia but also in Saint John and Fredericton where she operated short-term schools during the 1830’s and from 1850 to 1875.
It is possible that one of her students was Mary Rebecca Wilkinson (1808-1874), a daughter of Loyalists and the wife of John Wilkinson, an architect and engineer in the NB Crown Land Office. She was a Fredericton artist who created a botanical album called “Wildflowers of New Brunswick”.
This album of 28 watercolours of native New Brunswick plants was commissioned in 1868 by the “Ladies of Fredericton” as a gift for Margaret Medley, wife of the bishop of Saint John, NB. The illustrations were inscribed with the scientific and common names for the plant. These beautiful paintings can be found in the UNB Archives & Special Collections.
Sagittaria variabilis var. latifolia. “Arrowhead”. Watercolour by Mary Rebecca Wilkinson, ca. 1868. UNB Archives & Special Collections.
Goodyera pubescens. Watercolour by Mary Rebecca Wilkinson, ca. 1868. UNB Archives & Special Collections.
Another prominent artist in Fredericton, Elizabeth Beckwith Hazen (1840-1935) made over two hundred drawings of native New Brunswick plants during the 1860’s and 1870’s. She was a skilled amateur artist, painting local native wildflowers in oil and watercolours. By the 1870’s she was showing her works in the Provincial Exhibition and receiving much praise.
With the help of Dr. Loring W. Bailey (UNB Professor) her botanical illustrations were inscribed with the full botanical name, the common name and the date.
‘Fireweed’, Epilobium angustifolium, from Nature. Watercolour by Elizabeth Beckwith Hazen, 1867. UNB Archives & Special Collections.
‘Swamp Calla’, Calla palustris. Watercolour by Elizabeth Beckwith Hazen, 1870. UNB Archives & Special Collections.
Elizabeth Beckwith Hazen’s legacy of over 120 paintings of New Brunswick native plants are held in the UNB Archives & Special Collections.
I want to thank Matty Watson in the UNB Archives & Special Collections for allowing me to view the original paintings of Rebecca Wilkinson (28) and Elizabeth Beckwith Hazen (125). To see these botanical illustrations in person, gives a better appreciation of the artwork and the efforts these women undertook to provide an accurate, scientific record of a plant’s structure, form and colour.
References:
Image of Cornus canadensis, ‘PigeonBerry’, by Maria Morris Miller. Retrieved from Dartmouth Heritage Museum, Halifax.
Huneault, Kristina. I’m Not Myself at All: Women, Art, and Subjectivity in Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018. McGill-Queen’s/Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation Studies in Art History.
And just how many sedges are there – 25? Are sedges broken down into different genera? Is there one genus that is appreciably bigger? Hmm.
If these questions or similar ones keep you awake at night (and even if you don’t have such questions) come and find out the answers at this month’s ‘Botany Blast‘. This will be held Wednesday, Nov.19, 2025 from 11am to 3 pm in Room 27, Bailey Hall on UNB Fredericton campus. These plant ID sessions are held by the Connell Memorial Herbarium, which is the home to the largest vascular plant herbarium in New Brunswick.
Join us and learn that some sedges can be easily identified. It is easier than trying to learn confusing fall warblers or sandpipers…and they never fly away. There is no charge and you get to play with microscopes. Please contact Robyn Shortt at: plants@unb.ca, if you are interested in attending.
Answers:
Many sedges have triangular stems with sharp edges but some sedges have round stems. There are 171 different sedges contained in 15 different genera withing the sedge family called Cyperaceae.
The largest genus by far is Carex with 132 species. Because it is so big, (the largest genus in our flora), it is broken down into some 40 different sections. On November 19th we are going to talk about one of the sections within Carex called “Phacocystis” which contains many of our common wetland sedges. The word, Phacocystis is derived from the Ancient Greek words: Phako(s) meaning “lens-shaped” and Cystis, meaning “bladder” or “pouch”. This name likely refers to the distinct lens-shaped (biconvex) achenes (fruits) characteristic of species within this section of Carex.
Hope to see you Wednesday. Meanwhile, explore the online Specimen Search database to view the digital images of the Carex collection in the herbarium (up to Carex recta).
PlantID Workshop on Asters at Connell Memorial Herbarium
Room 27, Bailey Hall, UNB, Wednesday, Sept. 17th 2025, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Do you get confused with identifying the Asters of New Brunswick? You are welcome to participate in a special workshop with the amateur botanists at the Connell Memorial Herbarium at UNB biology building in Fredericton.Learn about the New York Aster, New England Aster, Lance-leaved Aster … and more, with a few goldenrods also thrown in.
Every month on the 3rd Wednesday, this group meets for a ‘Botany Blast’ as we continue to learn about the vegetation of our province.
Join us on Sept 17 from 11 am to 3 pm! Learn how to use a dissecting microscope, which are the best books and apps to use…and discover the fascinating uses of our province’s largest herbarium.
Contact Herbarium Manager, Robyn Shortt at: plants@unb.ca so we can make sure we have a place for you. No charge, and everyone is welcome whether beginner or expert.
A recently published book, “ Flora’s Fieldworkers: Women and Botany in Nineteenth-Century Canada” Ann Shteir (ed.), examines the role women played in plant collection, exploration and the general study of botany in British North America. Although the study of botany was an acceptable activity to women of the 19th century, it soon became a scientific discipline to be studied at universities and in formal scientific societies. Most archival records, plant lists and published studies were undertaken by men and there were few records of women’s accomplishments. This book brings to light through new archival materials, the important contributions some women made to botanical knowledge in pre-Confederation Canada.
In particular, personal letters show how four women in Canada were collecting plants for William Jackson Hooker, a professor of botany at the University of Glasgow. During the 1820’s and 1830’s they contributed to Hookers’ “Flora Boreali-Americana”, a project to document the plants of British North America, published in 1840.
The four women, all from the colonial elite in Quebec and Newfoundland, are Christian Ramsay (Lady Dalhousie), Anne Mary Perceval, Harriet Sheppard and Mary Brenton. William J. Hooker had commissioned botanical specimens from these women through his connections with the colonial network and personal contacts. He provided specific advice, copies of illustrated plant books and instructions on how to collect and preserve specimens for shipment to him in Glasgow. In his ‘Flora’ book, these women were cited nearly 450 times as sources of information about specific plants collected in Quebec and Newfoundland. Through their elite status in society, these women had the time, ability and ambition to learn about the plants. Here is a brief look at some of their botanical accomplishments.
Christian Ramsay (Lady Dalhousie) – 1786-1839 was the wife of Lord Dalhousie, and had the opportunity to travel throughout the British colony – Halifax, Quebec City and Montreal. She learned plants through books and from field experience working in her estate gardens. Lady Dalhousie was introduced to Hooker in 1825 and for the next three years was sending him plants from the Quebec region. She would collect with family and friends looking for new, rare or different plants than what was known in Britain. Her “approach to nature was empirical and material as she sought to identify, systematically arrange, and catalogue plants she collected”. (Shteir & Cayouette). Hooker cited her 48 times for plants she collected. Some of her specimens are held in the herbaria at Edinburgh and Kew, however, her personal collection of almost 300 specimens from Lower Canada are held in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario.
Figure 1. Ranunculus rhomboideus collected by Lady Dalhousie in Quebec, [?1824]. Courtesy of the herbarium of The Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. E00757483.
Anne Mary Perceval (1790-1876), wife of a colonial administer in Quebec, shared the same botanical interests as Lady Dalhousie and they became friends. Perceval lived on a large estate in Quebec and had the interest, ambition and resources to observe plants. She studied Frederick Pursh’s Flora Americae Septentrionalis and taught botany to her children. Through her connections she corresponded with John Torrey, a botanist in New York, and they exchanged plants and knowledge of plants. It was Torrey who recommended her to Hooker as “a lady of fortune who is an excellent botanist”(Shteir & Cayouette) . By 1825, she and her network of botanical friends were shipping plants to Hooker. She is cited 150 times in Hooker’s ‘Flora’ for plants collected across the Quebec region. Many of her specimens are held in the Darlington Herbarium in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Figure 2. Platanthera hookeri collected by Anne-Mary Perceval, William Darlington Herbarium – West Chester University, Pennsylvania (DWC), PH00525850.
Harriet Sheppard (1786-1858) was one of those botanical friends of Ramsay and Perceval who was also an avid collector of plants and natural history specimens. Along with her husband they were avid naturalists and members of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. She was sending Hooker wildflowers, shrubs, orchids, grasses, ferns, marine plants and lichens. She is cited in 144 entries of plants in ‘Flora Boreale-Americana’. There is less archival material available because a fire in their estate destroyed her personal herbaria and plant lists. Some of her plant specimens are held in in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Figure 3. Pterospora andromeda, collected by Harriet Sheppard in Quebec, Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, K006107257.
Mary Brenton (1791-1884) was from an elite family in Rhode Island that settled in Halifax. Her father was a lawyer and served as a judge and civil servant in Nova Scotia and eventually Newfoundland. Mary never married and always lived with her parents. Through elite social connections, she knew the Governor Thomas Cochrane, himself a botanical enthusiast, and it was he who introduced Mary to William J. Hooker. Mary became Hooker’s principal collector in Newfoundland and Labrador and from 1830 to 1838 she shipped plants to him. Her father was a travelling judge around the ports of Newfoundland and Mary could accompany him and collect plants from coastal bogs and fens. She is cited in the Flora 102 times for ferns, sedges, grasses. She found some plants that were new to Hooker and he named the gentian, Halenia brentoniana in her honour.
Figure 4. Mary Brenton’s specimen of Halenia brentoniana, Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, K000854355.
These four women stood out as botanists collecting plants in Lower Canada and Newfoundland for William J. Hooker’s project, Flora Boreali-Americana. They also collected plants for their own herbaria as did other women featured in this book, such as Catherine Parr Trail, Alice Hollingworth and Isabella McIntosh. Botanical albums and botanical art is covered in one essay which enlightened me to two women botanical artists in New Brunswick in the 1870’s. (More on this in another article.) I recommend this book for anyone interested in women botanists in Canada. The bibliography is also extensive and led me to the article by Shteir and Cayouette and also down many different pathways.
References:
Shteir, Ann B. (ed.). Flora’s Fieldworkers: Women and Botany in Nineteenth-Century Canada. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022.
Shteir, Ann B., and Jacques Cayouette. “Collecting with ‘botanical friends’: Four Women in Colonial Quebec and Newfoundland” Scientia Canadensis 41, no.1 (2019): 1-30.
Recently, there have been some challenging plant specimens offered to the participants in the Botany Blast (plant ID) sessions at the Connell Memorial Herbarium. ‘Friends of the Herbarium’ and the public gather once a month to identify or confirm the identity of specimens received by the herbarium. These sessions offer a lab space with microscopes, dissecting tools and an extensive library of plant keys to practise and improve your plant identification skills.
Amongst those of us still learning the plant keys and the terminology, we would expect to encounter some difficulties and frustration in this task. However, when we see the more experienced botanists among us being stumped as to what the plant is, then we don’t feel quite so bad. I am referring to a batch of sedges in the Carex genus that we had been working on – collected in the month of June in New Brunswick. The plant keys to the Carex genus often rely on small floral characteristics such as the achenes that are enclosed in a sac, called perigynium. Sedges may look very different in the spring versus in the summer or fall when they have gone to seed. So the timing of its collection with respect to its reproductive cycle can influence how easy it is to identify. So the Carex specimens, collected in June, had not developed enough to show some of these important, distinctive features needed for a definitive identification.
A note in the book, “Sedges of Maine: A Field Guide to Cyperaceae” confirms our frustration on that day at our Botany Blast session:
“It is easiest to identify sedges with mature fruits ….Attempting to identify immature material often results in frustration and puzzlement, but with practice and field experience, one can identify some immature species based on a combination of vegetative characteristics and habitat.”1
Even when you know what to look for, and the plant displays all these features, one must focus on very fine details, such as the length and shape of the inflorescences or the arrangement of the scales on the flower spikes. These features can be hard to see without a good hand lens (at least 10x and up to 20x to observe some features).
For those specimens that you cannot identify in the field and if a specimen must be collected for further study, it is advised to take only one plant for every 20 plants in a population. Roots are usually not needed for identification other than to record whether the plant is rhizomatous (stems occurring singly) or tufted (many stems arising from a central clump). However, the roots are an important characteristic for some species in the Carex genus, particularly in the section Limosae. I learned about this distinquishing feature in our last plant ID session.
The Limosae section of Carex contain three species: Carex limosa,Carex magellanica and Carex rariflora. All three are in New Brunswick and herbarium specimens can be found in the Connell Memorial Herbarium. These Carex species have a distinctive yellowish, velvety fuzz on the roots. In the “Flora of New Brunswick” this descriptive feature is mentioned within the Sections key to Carex – “…roots covered with a yellowish felt”.2
Enlargement of root of Carex rariflora, (UNB 64604).3
In conclusion, sedges have more than just edges on their leaves to help you identify this incredibly diverse group of plants. The combination of subtle morphological differences and seasonal changes requires close observation and sometimes even special tools to make accurate identifications. The next time you encounter a sedge, take a moment to appreciate its beauty and complexity—but also recognize that identifying it might require more than a passing glance.
References:
“Sedges of Maine: A Field Guide to Cyperaceae” Matt Arsenault, Glen H. Mittelhauser, Don Cameron, Alison C. Dibble, Arthur Haines, Sally C. Rooney, and Jill E. Weber. The University of Maine Press, Orono, Maine. 2013. Page 17.
“Flora of New Bunswick” Harold R. Hinds, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. 2000. Page 518.
Carex rariflora (Wahl.) Sm., Canada, Quebec, ARA Taylor (UNB #64604).
On July 12th, 2024, the ‘Friends of the Herbarium’ made a botanical outing to the Belleisle Creek Marsh Trail, near Hatfield Point in Kings County.
This interesting location was suggested by Liz Mills and she was joined by Bev Schneider, Robyn Shortt and Gart Bishop. The full report, including a plant list with geo-locations, compiled by Liz Mills, will be available in early 2025 on the CMH website – under Resources and ‘Friends Outings Reports’ [https://unbherbarium.lib.unb.ca/page/friends-outings-reports]
This is a well-established trail along a grassy road that separates a wetland, bound by a marsh and a creek.
Three sites were explored. The first was a marshy habitat where water flowed with a bit of a current into the marsh (25-30 cm depth). The predominant plants were alders, willows, water plantain, Scirpus, Carex, blue flags, Sparganium, grasses, Juncus, pickerelweed and white water lily.
At a second site, along the trail (berm) separating the marsh from the creek, there were stands of deciduous trees and predominately silver maples. The path was bordered, on the marsh side, with Cornus species, milkweed, Canada Lily, Carex, Juncus, cattails, Rumex and Scirpus. On the creek side, there were typical species of a silver maple flood plain: nettles, merry bells, Stachys sp., and dodder.
The third site, where the path leaves the silver maple habitat, was in full sun along the edge of the marsh. There are several places here where the water trickles from the marsh to the creek. The diversity of plants was abundant: grasses, Carex, Scirpus, Fraxinus sp., Lindernia sp., Galium sp., asters and goldenrods.
It was a beautiful summer day exploring the plants of New Brunswick!
Text: Liz Mills. Photos: Liz Mills. Blog editor: Susan Belfry
For more information on the Belleisle Creek Trail:
The New Brunswick Invasive Species Council (NBISC) will be hosting a two BioBlitzes between July 27th and August 3rd, 2024, both virtual and in-person! These events are a fantastic opportunity for community members to come together and help us track and manage invasive species across New Brunswick.
Virtual BioBlitz: Date: July 27th – August 3rd, 2024 Details: Participants can join from anywhere, exploring their local areas across New Brunswick and reporting findings through the “NBISC Invasive Species BioBlitz 2024” iNaturalist project.
In-Person BioBlitz: “I Spy Invasive Species at Boars Head” Date: July 27, 2024 Location: Boars Head Nature Preserve, Saint John, NB
Time: 10:00am-1:00pm
Details: Join the New Brunswick Invasive Species Council, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, and like-minded nature enthusiasts as we explore Boars Head Nature Preserve while identifying invasive and native plant and wildlife species as part of a BioBlitz. Whether you’re a budding enthusiast or a seasoned expert at identification, this event is for you!
Big Backyard BioBlitz August 1–5, 2024 for Nature Conservancy Canada
Whether you’re heading to the cottage, the campsite or your own back deck, make the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Big Backyard BioBlitz part of your experience. It’s a fun and easy way to boost your nature knowledge and enjoy the health benefits of getting outside.
Keelie Taylor (left) and Hannah Lazaris-Dellen (right) in the Connell Memorial Herbarium.
We have been so fortunate to have Keelie Taylor and Hannah Lazaris-Dellen volunteering in the Herbarium for the past 24 months! Both are UNB students who have dedicated many hours to helping us add and organize specimens to our collection.
Keelie is finishing her Masters degree in Biology working with algae. Her interest in herbaria started with volunteering at the University of Victoria, databasing the collection and repairing herbarium specimens. Since 2023 Keelie has been helping us with all aspects of the work required to maintain a plant collection: mounting, databasing, scanning specimens, filing and keeping the collection up-to-date with naming convention. She plans to finish her Masters by the end of this summer and move to BC to further her studies.
Hannah has now graduated with her B.Sc in Chemistry/Biology and plans to leave us soon to attend St.Mary’s University for a MSc degree in Environmental Science. She has volunteering in the herbarium for the past 2 years, finding time between her classes to drop in and mount plant specimens. This is her favourite task. Her project for her Masters will be studying the microdiversity on Sable Island.
Thank you both for all of your help, curiosity and enthusiasm. We wish you all the best in the next phase of your lives, and would love to hear from you from time to time!
As volunteers in the Connell Memorial Herbarium, we often handle herbarium sheets that have been filed for many, many years. Recently a sheet, showing a plant collected by Rev. James Fowler, initiated a conversation which led to the question of how many New Brunswick specimens did Fowler submit to the Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium at Kew, United Kingdom? The following is the result of that query.
Rev. James Fowler was an early New Brunswick botanist. He was born in 1829 at Bartibog, NB, and died in Kingston, Ontario in 1923. He attended university in Halifax where he was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1857. A serious bout of laryngitis forced him to leave the ministry and after he recovered he became a teacher and eventually became Science Master at the Provincial Normal School. Throughout his life he seriously pursued his avocation, the study of natural history. He was a botanist of distinction and set a goal to collect all the plants of New Brunswick. This led him to communicate with other botanists and exchange specimens enhancing his collections. One of his significant contributions to NB botany was his list of NB plants from 1878 and 1880. This list has been used by other leading botanists ever since.
Fowler was generous with his large personal plant collections. For example, he sent 1000 specimens to the NB Museum. In the early 1900s he did a thorough study of the plants around St. Andrews, NB, and found many foreign plants. He became famous for his collection of a Knotweed which was named after him. This honour was given to him by botanist B. L. Robinson of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard, naming the plant Polygonum fowleri, Fowler’s Knotweed. This plant grows along sea beaches and sandy coastal marshes. Our herbarium has specimens collected from the Acadian Peninsula, Kent County, along the Fundy coast and from the Fundy islands.
Fowler did his early collecting in Kent County around Bass River and Richibucto and later concentrated on the St. John River valley. Fowler became familiar with the flora of much of NB and noticed a greater number of Arctic plants here than would be expected at this latitude. His explanation for this unfortunately was not correct but the explanation (the plants being protected in niches after the retreat of the ice sheet and the presence of cold currents along the Fundy coast, long winters and fog) was made using all the information he had at the time.
Although Fowler pursued botany in New Brunswick, a remote area at the time, he stayed in close touch with the leading botanists. He was in close touch with the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, with Asa Gray of Harvard, and occasionally attended high level meetings like the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Canada. He visited such places as Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Canada in 1891.
In 1880, Asa Gray recommended Rev. James Fowler for a position at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He became professor of natural history there and unfortunately took his large collection of New Brunswick plants with him. It is not known how many plants were in this lot. At that time we not only lost one of our greatest botanists but a substantial number of collected NB plants. Fowler achieved a lot botanically for the province and we were very fortunate that he worked here for many years. He is buried at Cataraqui Cemetery at Queen’s University. The university named their large herbarium, Fowler Herbarium, after him. It currently contains 140,000 specimens.
Rev. James Fowler submitted 516 specimens to the Connell Memorial Herbarium from the years 1866 to 1908. Most of those submissions were of plants collected from New Brunswick. In the years from approximately 1904 to 1908, the specimens were collected from the province of Quebec. One specimen which is listed as ‘unknown collection date’ lists ‘event date’ as 1865 (accession number 3095). Most of the specimens collected in 1866 were from New Brunswick. Specimens were submitted in 1866 from Richibucto, Bass River, Rothesay, Eel River, Baie Verte, Belledune and Point La Nim. A few specimens have the source listed as ‘probably Bass River’. At least 7 specimens collected in 1866 are listed as from New Brunswick but show no location.
A good example of one of his specimens is accession number 2223, Amelanchier laevis Wieg. , Smooth Shadbush, collected from Bass River, Kent County, northeast of Smiths Corner. Attached is a digital version of the herbarium sheet and an enlargement of the label.
These images show the beauty of the Smooth Shadbush specimen and the script on the attached tag may be that of Rev. James Fowler.
Fowler submitted 67 specimens to the Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium at Kew but only one is from New Brunswick. The date of submission of that plant is unknown but it was identified as Salix pyrifolia which today is known as Salix purpurea L. See the herbarium sheet below and an enlargement of the specimen label.
It is interesting to think that that plant was sent to the United Kingdom in the 1800s or early 1900s and still exists today as a historical record from New Brunswick. Rev. James Fowler contributed greatly to New Brunswick botany including raising us to the global consciousness. Thanks go to Richard Fournier for his help in searching the Kew Herbarium files for this record.
References
Connell Memorial Herbarium. unbherbarium.lib.unb.ca/page/connell-memorial-herbarium.
Kew Herbarium Catalogue. apps.kew.org.
Young, C. Mary. Nature’s Bounty. UNB Libraries, University of New Brunswick. 2015.
Connell Memorial Herbarium (UNB IH) 