ArtPlantae Today

Habenaria fimbriata peramoena, Large purple fringed sic orchis Platanthera peramoena (A. Gray) A. Gray, purple fringeless orchid, Orchidaceae (orchid family), watercolor on paper by Richard Crist (1909–1985), HI Art accession no. 6615.309. © 2012 Richard Crist Estate. All Rights Reserved

The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation and the Botany department at Carnegie Museum of Natural History will celebrate the native wildflowers of Pennsylvania in a collaborative exhibition opening in March.

Native Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk allows visitors to take a virtual walk through a southwestern Pennsylvania growing season and become more familiar with some of the native wildflowers that are integral to so many relationships. Information about Pennyslvania’s many parks, woodlands and wetlands is provided throughout the exhibition. Visitors are encouraged to follow their visual walk with a physical one in many of the state’s wildflower habitats.

Thirty-six wildflower watercolors by Richard Crist (1909–1985) from the Institute’s collection illustrating the simplicity and beauty of Pennsylvania’s native species will be on view. Coupled with Carnegie’s significant herbarium specimens, these pieces combine to create a visual wildflower walk through Pennsylvania’s blooming seasons with a focus on endangered, rare and threatened species within Pennsylvania. Additional watercolors by artists Lyn Hayden and Andrey Avinoff (1884–1949) also underscore the exhibition’s emphasis on the importance of herbaria and their contributions toward research, education and conservation.

Thoughout spring and early summer, visitors can learn more about Pennsylvania’s native plants through a series of public talks that will occur at the Hunt Institute on Sunday afternoons. All talks are free and begin at 2 PM. Plan ahead to attend the presentations below:

• Why Do Plants Bloom When They Do? Spring Ephemerals and Other Seasonal Flowering Patterns – March 18; Steve Grund, botanist
• Pressing and Mounting Specimens for a Personal Herbarium – March 25; Jeanne Poremski, landscape designer/botanist
• Wildflowers of Pennsylvania – April 15; Dr. Mary Joy Haywood, botanist and plant pathologist
• Wildflowers in the Home Garden – April 22 (Earth Day); John Totten, landscape architect
• Gallery tour of Native Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk (in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon commencement ceremonies), May 20
• Rare Plants of Pennsylvania – June 24; Bonnie Issac, collections manager at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and exhibition co-curator. This presentation will be held in conjunction with the Hunt Institute’s Open House.
• Early Pennsylvania in Writing and Images – June 25; Angela Todd, Hunt Institute Archivist. This presentation will be held in conjunction with the Hunt Institute’s Open House.

The exhibition will be on display on the 5th floor of the Hunt Library building at Carnegie Mellon University and will be open to the public free of charge.

Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–noon and 1–5 p.m.; Sunday, 1–4 p.m. (except 11 March, 6–8 April, 6 and 27–28 May). The library’s hours of operation are occasionally subject to change, please call or email before your visit to confirm their hours. For further information, contact the Hunt Institute at 412-268-2434.

About the Hunt Institute
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, a research division of Carnegie Mellon University, specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of plant science and serves the international scientific community through research and documentation. To this end, the Institute acquires and maintains authoritative collections of books, plant images, manuscripts, portraits and data files, and provides publications and other modes of information service. The Institute meets the reference needs of botanists, biologists, historians, conservationists, librarians, bibliographers and the public at large, especially those concerned with any aspect of the North American flora.