Vascular Plant Species Extirpated or Not Vouchered as Occurring in Illinois

We searched for records of 310 native Illinois vascular plant taxa that we considered very uncommon, rare, or possibly extirpated from the state. Most of the state herbaria and some of the major herbaria from surrounding states were searched. We searched the literature, records in the Illinois Natural Heritage Database, and contacted many local botanists and biologists. Also, authors of the "Flora of North America" were contacted concerning recent records. Of the 117 taxa discussed in this article, 87 are possibly extirpated from Illinois, while for 30 a voucher specimen was either absent or misidentified, or for other reasons not useable. Of the 87 species that are probably extirpated, most have not been seen in the state for more than 50 years, and some have not been seen since the mid 1800's. The species that lack a voucher specimen for Illinois are mostly based on misidentification, the perpetuation of earlier mistakes, listed species for which there is insufficient or misinterpreted data, the voucher was a cultivated plant, or the names used are now considered synonyms of common species. Presumably most of these 30 taxa were never part of the Illinois flora. ; Copyright of Erigenia: Journal of the Southern Illinois Native Plant Society is the property of Illinois Native Plant Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)