The Division of Botany’s Yale Herbarium also holds the herbarium of Amos Eaton.
Amos Eaton
began his herbarium soon after his release from prison, in 1815 or
1816. His collection included plants from New York State and New
England. In his lifetime he described about 20 new species belonging to
several plant families, and published over 20 species described by
others, including Torrey, Hall, Aikin, Beck, Tracy and Le Conte.
Prof.
E.D. Merrill looked for Eaton’s collections in the hope of locating
type material related to these new species. Thanks to his effort, the
Amos Eaton Herbarium was located at Yale University. Merrill had the
opportunity to study these collections and authenticating them as
belonging to Amos Eaton.
The First Herbarium comprises 4
books (9 inches x 11 inches x 2 inches; 22.9 cm x 27.9 cm x 5 cm), each
with about 90 sheets. The inscription “A. Eaton Herbarium” can be found
on the back of each. In addition, one of the books contains the
signature of Sara C. Eaton, daughter of Amos Eaton, with the additional
statement “From Rens. Institute, Troy, N.Y.” The First Herbarium is the
repository of only 5 type specimens. Additionally, 2 specimens
collected by Rafinesque at Fishkill, New York, are included. Rafinesque
thought these represented new species, but Eaton disregarded them as
new. Later examination by Merrill revealed that these specimens indeed
represent new taxa.
The Second Herbarium is thought to
have comprised 2 books, however only one still exists. Larger than the
others, it contains about 225 specimens. The front of the book has a
specimen list in Amos Eaton’s handwriting; the specimen labels were
handwritten by John Wright, Eaton’s student and co-author of the last
edition of the Manual of Botany,
published in 1840, 2 years before Eaton’s death. No type material has
been found in the Second Herbarium. All 5 volumes represent one of the
earliest plant collections in the United States, and remain of high
historical importance.
