Early Botany in Takoma and Sligo

The new window at Historic Takoma (7328 Carroll Avenue) features the story of the work of at least 40 botanists who visited the Sligo Creek watershed between 1876 and 1915, collecting about 700 plant specimens for deposit at the herbariums at the Smithsonian and the University of Maryland. The display is a work of a partnership between Historic Takoma and Friends of Sligo Creek. 

Plant collecting had been popular as an amateur pastime and scientific activity since the early nineteenth century and peaked in the Mid-Atlantic between 1900 and 1910. Dozens of botanists arrived in the DC area between 1884 and 1910 to work at the USDA and Smithsonian.

Learn more about these collectors, their work, and the mystery of the Takoma Bog when Michael Wilpers from Friends of Sligo Creek presents a talk at Historic Takoma at 7:00 PM on Wednesday evening, October 9.

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