Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries

Index of Botanical Specimens

Classification	Dirca: Thymelaeaceae
Complex Object	This is a complex collection object (2 items with 1 preparation)
Harvard University Herbaria Barcode(s)	00872968
Other Barcodes on Sheet	;
Collector	H. D. Thoreau
Country	United States of America
State	Vermont
Geography	North America: North America (CA, US, MX) (Region): United States of America: Vermont: Windham County: Brattleboro
Locality	Coldwater path Brattleboro
GUID	http://purl.oclc.org/net/edu.harvard.huh/guid/uuid/0ab7cd9d-9e92-4ebb-b8c4-70b54ddb5482
Harvard University Herbaria Barcode	00872968
Herbarium	GH
Family	Thymelaeaceae
Determination	Dirca palustris Linnaeus
Determination Remarks	[is label name] [is Current name]
Subcollection	Thoreau Herbarium
Phenology	Sterile
Preparation Type	Sheet
Preparation Method	Pressed
Description	[Dirca palustris]

Remarks

[“Sept. 8. Brattleboro. . . P. M. Clearing up. I went a-botanizing by the Coldwater Path, for the most part along a steep wooded hillside on Whetstone Brook and through its interval. . . There for the first time I see growing indigenously the Dirca palustris, leather-wood, the largest on the low interval by the brook. I notice a bush there seven feet high. In its form it is somewhat like a quince bush, though less spreading, its leaves broad, like entire sassafras leaves; now beginning to turn yellow. It has remarkably strong thick bark and soft white wood which bends like lead (Gray says it is brittle!), the different layers separating at the end. I cut a good-sized switch, which was singularly tough and flexible, just like a cowhide, and would answer the purpose admirably. The color of the bark is a very pale brown. . . The Browns gave me some of the flowers, which appear very early in spring.” Journal 9: 66-68. 1856]