Lewis collected more than thirty specimens while traveling through the land Laura Ingalls Wilder would later make famous. Being he was in a tallgrass prairie, a variety of grasses were among his specimens, including Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinaceae), Canada Wildrye (Eymus canadensis), and Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii).
Legumes were well represented among his wildflower specimens. These included Showy Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciulata), Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), White Prairie Clover (D. candida), and Lemon Scurfpea (Psoralidium lanceolatum). There were silvery Artemisias to be found such as Fringed Sagewort (A. frigida) and Prairie or White Sagewort (A. ludoviciana). And Caper Family (Capparaceae) specimens included Clammy-weed (Polanisia dodecandra) and Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome serrulata).
Purple Prairie Clover was the very first of the new species Lewis would find. He wrote: "it is a stranger to me." His description of it was that it was "a pieniel (perennial) plant. The flower is a pale purple colour small form a kind of button of a long conic like form which terminate it's branches which are numerous..." In comparison, White Prairie Clover was described as being "much the same as (Purple Prairie Clover) with this difference that the blume of the conic tausel are white instead of purple..."
Prairie Sagewort was one of the many aromatic herbs Lewis would describe during the long, Kerouac-ian road trip. He wrote: "...this is common to all the praries above the Kancez (Kansas) river; from it's resemblance in taste smell &c (etc.) to the common Sage I have called it the wild Sage."
Curly-cup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa) was another aromatic specimen Lewis gathered. It was "Taken at our camp at the Maha (Omaha Indian) village August 17th 1804. it is a handsome plant about 3 feet high much branched bears a yellow circular flower carnished with meany small narrow ovate petals of the same colour ... (the) plant is covered with a gumlike substance which adheres to the fingers and yealds a pleasant smell."
As for some of those grasses, Lewis wrote that Canada Wildrye was "common to all the low praries above the Canez (Kansas) river ... it resembles the rye extreemly ... the geese and ducks feed on it." And of the Reed Canarygrass he observed and opined, "...the small birds feed on the seed which are very abundant ... the horses were very fond of this grass and I am disposed to believe it would make a valuable grass for culture."
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