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Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Historical Sketch
- Scope and Content Note
- Series Description
- Contents Description
- Selected Bibliography
Introduction
The USDA Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigations Photograph Collection consists mainly of black-and-white and colored glass lantern slides produced between 1902 and 1943. There are also a few glass and film negatives with corresponding black-and-white photographic prints. The collection is believed to have originated with the Division of Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigations (later called the Division of Drug and Related Plants) of the USDA’s Bureau of Plant Industry.
The collection occupies 5 linear feet of shelf space and is housed in 11 boxes. The materials are in fair to poor condition. There are no restrictions on the use of these materials for research; however, users must take care when handling the glass slides and negatives, some of which are damaged.
Sara Lee and Stephanie Ritchie arranged, inventoried, and partially described the materials in 2004. Diane Wunsch completed arranging and describing the collection in 2018.
Historical Sketch
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) consolidated its medical and poisonous plant research in 1905 under the Division of Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigations. Dr. Rodney H. True, a plant physiologist who worked on drug and medicinal plant research, headed the new division.
One of the division’s goals was to promote the commercial production of medicinal plants in the United States so the country could rely less on imported materials. Scientists cultivated belladonna, digitalis, stramonium, hyoscyamus, aconite, arnica, licorice, and opium poppy, among other plants. The division established small field plots in various U.S. geographic areas to study the influence of climate and latitude on plant growth and on the production of the plants’ active substances. Researchers also investigated the properties and geographic distribution of toxic plants.
By 1922, the BPI reorganized the unit and renamed it the Office of Drug, Poisonous, and Oil Plant Investigations. Its research scope expanded to include the commercial production of oil-seed and volatile-oil producing plants, along with methods for converting waste products from the canning and fruit-packing industries into oils and other products.
The unit went through several more organizational changes, eventually becoming the Division of Drug and Related Plants in 1931. It was consolidated with the tobacco research division of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering in 1945.
Scope and Content Note
The USDA Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigations Photograph Collection consists mainly of black-and-white and colored lantern slides. There are also a few glass and film negatives and black-and-white photographs. The images in this collection depict gardens, plants, and research activities conducted by the Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigations division of the Bureau of Plant Industry, and the division’s successor agencies. The collection spans the years 1902 to 1943.
The collection is arranged into three thematic series of images: drug gardens, poisonous plant investigations, and botanic gardens. Most of the plants shown in these images are identified by their scientific names, although some are labeled with their common names. Researchers should search for plant images under both scientific and common names for best results.
Series Description
Series I: Drug Garden Images. 1902-1943. 4 boxes.
This series contains lantern slides, negatives, and photographs of medicinal plant gardens at various institutions across the United States. Other subjects include field plots of drug plants at the USDA’s South Farm in Beltsville, Maryland; specimens of plants used for medicines and essential oils; distribution charts of plant species; and a few paintings of drug plants.
Series II: Poisonous Plant Investigation Images. 1907-1925. 5 boxes.
The lantern slides in Series II depict poisonous plant research, mainly showing the effects of plant toxins on livestock. Most of these slides show livestock that have ingested toxic plants. Many of the slides are labeled with the scientific name of the subject plant, the animal type, the animal number, and the date and time of the photograph. Sequences of images follow the course of a particular animal’s reaction to a plant toxin. A few of the slides show poisonous plants in their native habitats. Some slides have charts, tables, maps, and figures related to poisonous plant research.
Series III: Botanic Garden Images. 1910-1922. 2 boxes.
This series contains lantern slides depicting various botanic gardens. The images include plans and photographs of plants and landscape features at botanic gardens in the United States and other countries.
Contents Description
| Box | Title/Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Photographs and negatives. Images of plants used for medicines and essential oils. Views of drug gardens in various locations within the United States. Arranged by negative number. |
| 2 | Glass lantern slides. Plants shown include: Actinea odorata, Althea, Artemisia cina, Belladonna, Camphor, Cannabis indica, Capsicum annuum, Cascara sagrada, Chenopodium anthelminticum, Delphinium glaucum, Henbane, Humulus lupulus, Lallemantia, Lupinus albus, Japanese peppermint, Marjoram, Mentha citrate, Nolina, Papaver somniferum, Peppermint, Prunus laurocerassus, Pycnathemum, Sumac, Sweet basil, Tephrosia virginiana, and Wormwood. Other images include drug and botanic gardens, plant cultivation, and drug manufacture. |
| 3 | Glass lantern slides. Plants shown include: Actinea odorata, Asclepias cordifolia, Asclepias subulata, Astragalus diphysus, Astragalus mollissimus, Astragalus tetrapterus, Cannabis, Conium maculatum, Digitalis, Humulus lupulus, Kalmia angustifolia, Kalmia latifolia, Oxytropis lamberti, Papaver somniferum, Phellandrium aquaticum, Prunus laurocerasus, Rhus copallinum,. Other images include various drug and botanic gardens, herb harvesting, and images of the BPI’s Orlando, Florida field station. |
| 4 | Glass lantern slides. Plants shown include: Aconitum columbianum, Aesculus carnea, Aesculus hippocastanum, Amanita muscaria, Amanita pantherina, Amygdalus communis, Asclepias albicans, Asclepias eriocarpa, Asclepias galioides, Asclepias mexicana, Asclepias pumila, Asclepias speciosa, Asclepias verticillata, Asclepias vestita, Asclepiodora decumbens, Astragalus argillophilus, Astragalus bigelovii, Astragalus diphysus, Astragalus earlei, Astragalus mollissimus, Astragalus pattersoni, Astragalus tetrapterus, Chrosperma muscaetoxicana, Daubentonia longifolia, Delphinium menziesii, Delphinium penardi, Gut. Diversifolia, Heracleum lanatum, Hymenoxys floribunda, Hymenoxys ligut[?], Isocoma wrightii, Lupinus sericeus, Melanthium virginicum, Menziesia ferruginea, Menziesia glabella, Nerium oleander, Nicotiana attenuata, Nicotiana trigonophylla, Nothoscordum bivalve, Oenanthe crocata, Oxytropis lamberti, Senecio integerrimus, Senecio longilobus, Triglochin maritima, Xanthium echinatum, Xylorrhiza parreyi. Also contains images of New Harmony cliffs, Salina Experiment Station, and unidentified subjects. |
| Box | Title/Description |
|---|---|
| 5 | Lantern slides. Subjects include effects of plant toxins on livestock: Actinea – sheep; Asclepias – sheep, cattle, horses; Astragalus – cattle; Chrosperma – sheep; Daubentonia – sheep; Delphinium – cattle, horses; Eupatorium – cattle; Hymenoxys – sheep; Isocoma – sheep, cattle; Karwiniskia – sheep, cattle; Loco – cattle; Lupine – sheep; Prunus – sheep; Senecio – cattle; Zygadenus – horses. There are several unidentified subjects. |
| 6 | Lantern slides. Subjects include effects of plant toxins on livestock: Actinea – sheep; Agrostemma – poultry; Asclepias – sheep, cattle, horses; Astragalus diphysus (plant); Chrosperma – sheep; Cicuta – cattle; Delphinium – cattle; Eupatorium – sheep, cattle; Isocoma – cattle; Karwiniskia – sheep, cattle, poultry; Loco – cattle; Menziesia – sheep; Nicotiana – cattle; Prunus – sheep; Senecio – cattle, horses. |
| 7 | Lantern slides. Subjects include effects of plant toxins on livestock: Asclepias – sheep, cattle; Aplopappus – cattle; Cannabis – dog; Delphinium – cattle; Eupatorium – sheep; Isocoma – cattle; Loco – sheep; Lupine – sheep; Menziesia – sheep; Nicotiana – cattle, sheep; Prunus – sheep; Senecio – horses. |
| 8 | Lantern slides. Graphs, maps, data tables, publications, and presentation slides related to poisonous plant research. |
| 9 | Lantern slides. Graphs, maps, data tables, publications, and presentation slides related to poisonous plant research. There are also a few miscellaneous sheep images and unidentified subjects. |
| Box | Title/Description |
|---|---|
| 10 | Lantern slides. Plans, features, and plant specimens of botanic gardens in the United States and other countries. |
| 11 | Lantern slides. Plans, features, and plant specimens of botanic gardens in the United States and other countries. |
Selected Bibliography
Sources Used for Finding Aid
Powell, Fred Wilbur. The Bureau of Plant Industry: Its History, Activities and Organization. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1927.
United States Department of Agriculture. Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1902.
United States Department of Agriculture. Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1903.
United States Department of Agriculture. Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1905.