Biltmore Herbarium Specimen (Smithsonian Collection)

The Biltmore Herbarium

(This is the final installment of a series on the Biltmore Estate’s Botanical History)

Not many people know about the Biltmore Herbarium, but in its heyday, it was one of the largest and most extensive collections of its kind with over 100,000 specimens. This particular herbarium specialized in Southeastern flora, but as was the custom, also included specimens from all over the world. Parts of this collection still exist today, but are ‘hidden’ within a larger collection–which is probably why it has been all but forgotten. Nevertheless, I have gathered some information here, because I think it's a story worth telling. It’s a story with deep roots and lots of interesting elements–like famous people, scientific discovery, and, sadly, tragedy as well.

The Brainchild of Frederick Law Olmsted

The Biltmore Herbarium got its start when Frederick Law Olmsted took on the commission for the Biltmore Estate in the fall of 1888. One of Olmsted’s first moves was to enact a series of “Scientific Collections” for the estate.

Olmsted felt it was important to begin by recording the estate’s natural resources before all the grading and construction permanently altered or destroyed what was there. These collections included: “Geology, Mineralogy, Archaeology, Botany, Dendrology, Entomology and Zoology.”

It is not clear if Olmsted’s ‘scientific collections’ still exist today, but we do know that the botany portion became part of what would later be the official Biltmore Herbarium–an herbarium that was ultimately linked to Olmsted’s “Big Vision” for the estate. While Olmsted did establish a series of beautiful gardens at the Biltmore, he made it clear from the outset, that his true passion for the project involved creating a large teaching arboretum, complete with a credible herbarium and a botanical library for botanists, dendrologists, and landscape gardeners to use for study. In a directive entitled, “Preliminary Instructions as to the Biltmore Herbarium”, he wrote:

“[it should be] a complete and in every way excellent Herbarium.…[and] that the Herbarium may be of the highest scientific value, with several specimens of each plant collected.”

— Frederick Law Olmsted

A Most Excellent Herbarium

George Vanderbilt showed great interest in the project and authorized the hiring of botanist & collector Frank Boynton. Boynton was given the title, “Guardian of the Biltmore Herbarium” and immediately set about collecting specimens for this most excellent herbarium. As with everything Biltmore, the collection effort was grand in scale, and it wasn’t long before a whole team of helpers was hired for the project, including C. L. Boynton (Frank’s brother). The collectors were flung far and wide to capture all they could of the Southeastern flora. The collection expeditions included trips to South Carolina, Georgia, Tennesee, Florida, Missouri, and even Colorado! As a result, many new species were discovered and cataloged–the most famous of which was the Biltmitia vaseyi (later renamed, Rhododendron vaseyi), also known as the Pink Shell Rhododendron first found near Mt. Pisgah.

Rhododendron vaseyi, formerly *Biltmitia vaseyi*

Estate nurseryman, Chauncey Beadle, also made arrangements with botanists and nurserymen throughout the southeast and beyond (Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona) to acquire specimens from those regions as well. The Biltmore herbarium soon became one of the largest herbariums in the country, and certainly the most extensive herbarium of Southeastern plants available at the time. The collection contained over 100,000 specimens and, as was the custom, samples from this herbarium were sent to other collections all over the world. In fact, you can still find those samples in places like the Kew in London, Harvard University Herbarium, the Arnold Arboretum, and the NY Botanical Garden Herbarium, to name a few.

Tragedy Strikes

Unfortunately, the project did experience some setbacks over the years. First, In 1901, a fire destroyed some parts of the library as well as 90 percent of the duplicate herbarium specimens. Then, the untimely death of George Vanderbilt brought a pall over the arboretum project. Edith Vanderbilt was left with some substantial debt and had to start trimming the project tree as it were. Then, July 16, 1916, brought the final blow. Asheville experienced a devastating flood that completely destroyed the successful, and large-scale Biltmore Nursery operation and the botanical library that had been established on the estate. It also put an end to Olmsted’s dream of an arboretum. All the nursery stock they had been propagating for the project was gone. The herbarium wasn’t spared either. Three-quarters of the collection was destroyed in the flood as well. Fortunately, the remaining quarter of the collection (some 25,000 specimens) was saved.

With the nursery efforts in ruins and the library gone, Edith Vanderbilt decided to donate the remainder of the collection to what was then the National Museum, which later became the Smithsonian. National Museum Secretary at the time, Charles, Walcott, wrote:

“No one realizes more fully than I what the destruction of the greater part of this notable collection has meant to the science of botany, especially as the lass is irreparable. We shall be extremely glad to receive what remains of the specimens and will give them the care and protection they deserve in the National Herbarium, which is housed under excellent fireproof conditions. Thus a part of your extensive labors on the collection may be preserved perpetually. ”

— Charles Walcott

Lost & Found: The Biltmore Herbarium Today

I think one of the most interesting herbarium customs is the ‘exchange program’ whereby botanists share and exchange specimens with one another. What happens over time, is that herbariums end up ‘seeding’ one another. This is true of the Biltmore Herbarium, so you can find Biltmore specimens all over the world. Fortunately, many collections have now been digitized and are available online, so viewing specimens is just a few clicks away. Check out the SERNEC (South East Regional Network of Expertise & Collections) consortium and enter Biltmore Herbarium in the collection section and see what happens...

In addition, the Smithsonian has digitized its herbarium, so the remainder of the original collection is also just a few clicks away. View it for yourself here. Just be sure to include the name Biltmore Herbarium or Boyle in the collector space and you should be able to see some interesting specimens.

I hope you enjoyed the story of this interesting ‘lost and found’ herbarium. The history is certainly noteworthy on many counts, but that may not yet be the end of the story. Botanists use herbariums extensively to mine all kinds of important data—especially climate data. Given that Western North Carolina is one of the most biodiverse regions in the country, it is possible that this ‘most excellent herbarium’ may still have valuable secrets to reveal! I am glad that the collection is in good hands with the Smithsonian and is so readily accessible to the general public as well. I certainly have enjoyed getting close to the specimens in this way and hope you do too! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

If you would like to know more about the Biltmore and its botanical history check out the other blogs in this series Biltmore Blooms: Frederick Law Olmsted’s Botanical Legacy in Western NC & A Winter Oasis: the Biltmore Conservatory

And for a deeper dive, I highly recommend Bill Alexander’s The Biltmore Nursery: a Botanical Legacy. (2007) which contains a chapter on the Biltmore Herbarium. Most of the information about the history of the Biltmore Herbarium came from this book.

The Biltmore Herbarium