A talk by University of Michigan Assistant Director Tony Reznicek. Michigan is unique in that immediately after achieving statehood in 1837, the fledgling Legislature authorized a comprehensive “First Geological Survey” of the state’s natural resources. This included not only geology and soils, but also timber resources and a survey of plants and animals, and it included the collection of specimens which became the foundation of the present day museum and Herbarium collections. The plant collections are especially extensive, but were poorly labeled and suffered from past curatorial practices that diminished their value. But reconstructing the data and itineraries from several sources provides a detailed view of the flora and, to some degree, the vegetation of the state before extensive modification by European settlement, as well as insight into local extinctions and other changes in the flora. Free.

University of Michigan Herbarium, 3600 Varsity Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.