Name/Title
Yellow Bell (Fritillaria pudica)Entry/Object ID
2021.1.57 BScope and Content
Yellow Bell (Fritillaria pudica) plant description, framed.
The Yellow Bell, a very small perennial, is native to the eastern side of the Cascades from British Columbia to northern California and through the intermountain area south to New Mexico. Grasslands, sagebush deserts and conifer forests serve as the Yellow Bell habitat. The plant, also known as Johnny-Jump-Up Fritillary, Yellow Mission Bell or Yellow Fritillary, is usually three to six inches tall. The bright yellow, bell-shaped flowers turn a purplish red color as they age.
Lewis collected two specimens of the Yellow Bell. His notes on one of the specimens reads, "Plains of Columbia near the Kooskooske. May 8th 1806, the bulb in the shape of a bisquit which the natives eat." The bulbs, about the size of a pea, were collected by the Indians and cooked and eaten or dried to eat later.
On the morning of May 8th the Expedition party was in camp waiting for the snow on the Bitterroot Mountains to melt so they could cross them. Later in the day they traveled 6 miles over a road that "led us up a steep and high hill to a high and level plain mostly untimbered." They met the Nez Perce Indian Chief Twisted Hair who had been entrusted with their horses and sadlles the previous year. The men found themselves in the midst of a quarrel between Twisted Hair and another Nez Perce Chief, Cutnose. In order to obtain the horses, councils were held with each of the chiefs. In the midst of this, Lewis managed to collect the Yellow Bell.Context
Originally designed by the St. Joseph Museum in the fall of 2004. Titled "Botanical Wonders of the Uncharted West. The Recorded Flora of the Lewis & Clark Expedition."Collection
Lewis and ClarkLexicon
LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Botanical drawings, Expeditions & surveysArchive Items Details
Title
Yellow Bell (Fritillaria pudica)Creator
Mary L. FletcherDate(s) of Creation
2004Subjects
Plants, Watercolor paintingsParts
Count
2Parts
Watercolor of plant and descriptive label, both framed.Condition
Overall Condition
Very GoodProvenance
Notes
"Botanical Wonders of the Uncharted West" visually depicts how well Lewis followed Jefferson's instructions. In recognition of this achievement, The S. Joseph Museums, Inc. commissioned accomplished artist Mary Fletcher to create fifty (50) selected paintings of flora documented by the Corps during their Journey. These framed watercolor originals are accompanied by similarly framed labels, generated by former Head of Research Jackie Lewin, which describe the corresponding plants with appropriate quotations from the Journals. This collection makes available for study and appreciation plants that were new to Lewis and Clark, but which Native Peoples already recognized as valuable sources of food, medicine, and tools. Some of these still remain a mystery to many, but all will enjoy their beauty, their diverse uses, and their accomplished renderings.