The expedition documented 240 plant species, 178 new to western science

Lewis and Clark identified 122 animal species new to science

The Corps of Discovery recorded wildlife unknown to Americans, including grizzly bears, pronghorn antelope, and prairie dogs—offering the first detailed descriptions of the West’s diverse and often dangerous fauna.

Discover the 'American Serengeti' Lewis and Clark first recorded

This podcast traces the 19th-century exploration of the Great Plains’ biodiversity—beginning with Lewis and Clark’s wildlife cataloging and continuing through a century of documenting the Natural West’s remarkable species and landscapes.

The expedition produced the first detailed climate records of the West

Lewis and Clark logged daily temperature, weather, and seasonal patterns throughout their journey, creating the earliest systematic meteorological record for the western territories of the United States. Their observations helped overturn longstanding views that weather west of the Appalachians was similar to the East Coast.

The first women to run the Colorado River discovered four plant species

Over 45 days and 660 miles, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter identified more than 50 species in what was the first botanical survey of the region. Expected to help navigate boats and cook for the crew during the day, their work was confined to before dawn and after dusk.

Lewis and Clark’s journey became a blueprint for future exploration

Combining science, diplomacy, and logistics, the Corps of Discovery created a model for later expeditions—from charting the Arctic to NASA’s space missions.

Lewis and Clark encountered more than 70 Native tribes during their journey

The Corps of Discovery’s diplomacy ranged from peaceful trade and vital aid from tribes like the Shoshone and Nez Perce to tense standoffs, most notably with the Teton Sioux, who nearly brought the expedition to a halt.

Native voices share their histories along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Tribal historians recount their peoples' histories and perspectives on the Lewis and Clark expedition, offering an Indigenous narrative of the lands, encounters, and legacies that shaped the journey.

The Corps traded gifts with many native tribes as a sign of goodwill

They offered peace medals, beads, cloth, and mirrors, while receiving food, horses, furs, and guidance that helped them navigate and survive the western wilderness. This image collection showcases items the expedition collected.

A free archive of firsthand historical documents from explorers of America

Maintained by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the American Journeys collection contains more than 18,000 pages of primary source documents—journals, letters, maps, and accounts written between roughly 1000 CE and the early 1800s. These include eyewitness records of the Norse arrival in North America, Spanish conquistador expeditions, and the Lewis and Clark journey. Browse this list of highlights where pages from the original texts are specified (clicking a link opens a PDF).

The expedition purchased more than 260 separate items to supply their journey

Preparing for two years in the wilderness, Lewis acquired hundreds of supplies, including medicine, food, weapons, and 63 lbs of pigtail tobacco. The total bill was estimated to be around $2,324 (around $60,000 today).

Santa Barbara’s Botanic Garden was the first to showcase the state’s native plants

Founded in 1926, the garden’s founders sought to showcase the state’s local flora as a matter of conservation, rather than the water-hungry exotics regularly being imported. This story focuses on how the garden’s design took a more natural and less formal direction.

Explore a collection of galleries of pollinators found in national parks

Many of the photographs were taken during pollinator inventories in national parks across the US. Although these inventories often focus on bees and butterflies, the collection also features beetles, moths, spiders, and birds that transfer pollen as they move from bloom to bloom.

Photos and descriptions of unique plants found in the Amazon rainforest

It’s the plants that provide homes for the incredible diversity of Amazon animals. Read about 29 of the most fascinating Amazon rainforest plants.

Browse Emily Dickinson's collection of plant life

The poet began collecting plant life as a teen and assembling a herbarium, a collection of dried and pressed plants. The original book is housed in Harvard's rare book collection, but you can view digital scans of every page through the university's digital library.

A Thomas Moran painting inspired Yellowstone National Park

The 1872 painting provided viewers with a more accurate sense of the park's majesty than black-and-white photographs could provide. The painting was included in a packet of materials presented to Congress, which was taken with Moran's image and designated Yellowstone the first national park.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

This year's first leaf and first bloom in the US, mapped

Spring tends to arrive within a range of dates in the contiguous US. See a map illustrating the most recent year's first leaf and first bloom in relation to historical averages to see how early or late the season arrived.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

American farmers—including George Washington—experimented with coffee farming

Two coffee plants—an arabica strand and a Kentucky Coffee Tree—continue to grow at Mount Vernon, Washington's iconic Virginia home. The Marquis de Lafayette requested the agrarian commander send him some beans in France.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

What do psychedelic plants look like?

Far from the drippy aesthetic often associated with psychedelics, the plants powering naturally occurring psychoactive experiences may not stand out as anything special. This database offers a visual guide to psychoactive plants and fungi. Clicking on the title of a particular plant, such as yerba mate, will bring up a secondary screen with various hyperlinked images, such as the plant itself, related botanical drawings, and molecular structures.

How flowering plants took over the world

Flowering plants are relatively young in the evolutionary scheme of things, only arriving after the dinosaurs had already been wiped out. Their evolution has long puzzled scientists, but recent research indicates their success is due to smaller,...

Recent research indicates leprosy was present in the Americas before European settlers

New research published in 2025 upended long-held notions that the disease was introduced to the Americas by European colonizers. Evidence of a lesser-known leprosy-causing bacterium was found in ancient human remains that date back 4,000 years.

Forty-nine top-notch photos of springtime around the world

Peruse this collection of stunning images gleaned from thousands submitted in a 2020 "springtime" contest which features close-ups and drone photos from Vietnam to Ireland.

Explore hundreds of the brother’s personal photographs of flights, family and dogs

Their estate offered 300 negatives to the Library of Congress in 1948 after Orville’s death, most of which were taken by the brothers between 1897 and 1928. The collection serves as a visual timeline of their adult lives.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted and led to authorities' suspicions he was conspiring with the Russians

The 1794 incident involved André-Ignace-Joseph Dufresnoy, a French army physician researching the plants' potential medicinal properties. Rhus radicans is a scientific name for the plant, though it's commonly called Toxicodendron radicans.

The ‘humongous fungus’ may be the largest organism on Earth at more than 2,300 acres

Discovered in 1988, when it was only covering 400 acres, this massive colony of Armillaria ostoyae, based in Oregon, has taken hold among the tree roots of the Malheur National Forest. It consists of a vast network of unique long black filaments of fungal tissue called rhizomorphs that grow under the soil and infect tree roots, nourishing the fungus but killing the trees. Researchers believe this fungal growth dates back more than 8,000 years and currently weighs approximately 35,000 tons.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.