Botanical Art Gallery

Hoodia bainii, Dyer

Original illustration from Curtis's Botanical Magazine, published as plate 6348, 1st March 1878. Watercolour and pencil on paper. The specimen here figured was brought to England by Mr MacGibbon who obtained it from Mr Lycett of Worcester, South Africa. It flowered at Kew in July 1877. Hoodia plants are farmed commercially for their use as an appetite suppressant

© RBG KEW

Crassula saxifraga Harv

Original illustration from Curtis's Botanical Magazine, published as plate 6068, 1st November 1873. Watercolour and pencil on paper. The specimen figured is from tubers collected in South Africa. According to J.D. Hooker, this species has a wide South African distribution, being found on mountain sides from the extreme south-west, as on the Muysenberg mountain, near Simon's bay, to Port Elizabeth and Albany

© RBG KEW

Adansonia digitata L. (Baobab or 'Upside-down' tree)

Watercolour, gouache and pencil field sketch on paper. Inscribed by Baines in pencil on recto 'The Big tree a M.... or Baobab at Marma Kahuwe Dec 29 1861 10am, T. Baines. about one days journey from Lake Ngami'. The inscription possibly reads 'Moana or Baobab', as this is how James Chapman refers to the tree in his journals [spelt 'mowana' in Setswana]. Chapman noted that the tree was named Marma Kahuwe after a local native Chieftain. The tree appears on Baines's published 'Map of the Route' in his journal as 'The Big tree, a Mowana or Baobab, Mamakahooie', approximately 20 miles south-west of Lake Ngami. The circumference of this tree was measured at around 70 feet. A stereoscopic photograph of the same tree, probably taken by Chapman, is held in Kew's collections

© RBG KEW