Orchids Gallery

Calanthe versicolor, 1838

Watercolour on paper. Original drawing for plate XLII in John Lindley's Sertum orchidaceum: a wreath of the most beautiful orchidaceous flowers; selected by John Lindley, published in 1838. Illustration shows part monochromatic, part colour study of leaves and flowers. Side figure represents lip and ovary with the sepals and petals cut away. Inscribed in pencil by Miss Drake along top edge, The upper bracts slightly hairy, sweet scented, and Sion Gardens Aug. 31 18..'[date has been cropped]. There is a semi-circular blob of red paint or possibly sealing wax on the top edge of drawing. Also inscribed in a different hand Rec'd. 15.9.1925 lower right corner. Drawing taken from flower held in the collection of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland at Sion. According to Lindley's publication It is a native of the East Indies, whence it has also been sent from the Botanic Garden, Calcutta, to the Horticultural Society

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Moth orchid (Phalaenopsis), 1847

Hand-coloured lithograph on paper by Walter Hood Fitch, 1847. Artwork from Curtis's Botanical Magazine, volume 73, plate 4297. Curtis's Botanical Magazine is the longest running botanical periodical featuring colour illustrations of plants and has been published continuously since 1787

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

1787, 1800s, 1840s, 1847, 19th Century, 4297, Art, Biology, Botanical, Botanical Illustration, Botanical Magazine, Botanicals, Botany, Curtis, Curtis S, Fitch, Flower, Flowerhead, Flowering, Hand Coloured, Illustration, Kew, Kew Gardens, Lithograph On Paper, Moth Orchid, Orchid, Orchids, Phalaenopsis, Plant, Plant Portrait, Plant Structure, Plate 4297, T, T4297, Vertical, Vol 73, Volume 73, W, Walter Hood Fitch, White, White Flower

Lycaste aromatica, 1827

Illustration of Lycaste aromatica by Robert Kaye Greville and engraved by Joseph Swan. Artwork from Exotic flora: containing figures and descriptions of new, rare or otherwise interesting exotic plants...with remarks upon their generic and specific characters, natural orders, history, culture, time of flowering by William Jackson Hooker, 1827; volume 3, t. 219

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew