Oreocarya oblata
rough perennial cat’s-eye plant
This specimen was one of many plants collected in Texas in 1852 by Charles Wright during the Mexico-United States Boundary Survey, providing important scientific knowledge of the plants of the area and time. This specimen documents that the rough perennial cat’s-eye plant (Oreocarya oblata) was growing in the Chihuahuan desert near El Paso (“Frontera, Texas”) in May of 1852, allowing us to compare it to the species and its distribution in Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico today. Our library’s Rare Book Room holds Plantae Wrightianae,1852-1853 publications documenting Charles Wright’s collections, written by the collector and Harvard University botanist, Asa Gray (book link in catalog). Significance: Herbarium specimens have been preserved since the 1500s across the globe, making herbaria rich resources for the study biological diversity and environmental research over time.
