Last in our series of free botanical vintage art from The New Botanical Garden book via the Biodiversity Heritage Library. See previous post for details. All images below are in the Public Domain for you to use as you wish. We work through from Primula to Vitex.
Please note that the name in brackets is the current accepted scientific name. To get this, we check the scientific name given in the book against the Catalogue of Life and/or The Plant List, to see if it is still used today or now classified as a synonym. The common name below is the name given in the book only. Some of these do not correspond to the plant name used today. An example is the first plant below: In the UK we know Primula veris as Cowslip and the more rare Primula elatior as Oxlip. Yet the New Botanic Garden calls Primula veris Oxlip. Confused? We know this book was written in 1812 and Plantlife tells us that up to that point people believed Oxlip to be a hybrid of Cowslip and Primrose. Then in 1842 a botanist in consultation with Charles Darwin proved it to be its own species. Maybe that explains why they are calling Primula veris Oxlip, but it doesn’t tell us confidently what species we see in the picture. It may be possible that we can determine that from a good identification key and a belief in the accuracy of the art work. However, it is likely even that will not be enough, as apparently a good sniff is the only reliable diagnostic tool. No such luxury here. It doesn’t get any easier, as the next plant isn’t straight-forward either, referring to the Fern-leaved Peony as Fine-leaved Peony. Then there seems to be two Philadelphus coronarius plants (perhaps cultivars?) and Sarracenia is written as Sarracena. One wonders if these names have changed over the years with mis-spellings or mis-communication between artist and scribe. Plant Curator has noticed a number of inconsistencies between the table of contents and the plant names written on the plates in the book. It was probably difficult to correct a mistake back then, so better to leave it hoping no-one noticed, rather than do the whole drawing or table of contents again.
Now we have some free vintage botanical art, and we have ascertained the current day scientific name (if not the common), what can we do with it? Suggestions please.
Primula veris (Primula veris L.) – Oxlip
Paeonia tenuifolia (Paeonia tenuifolia L.) – Fine-leaved Paeony
Pancratium maritimum (Pancratium maritimum L.) – Sea Pancratium
Soldanella alpina (Soldanella alpina L.) – Alpine Soldanella
Papaver orientale (Papaver orientale L.) – Eastern Poppy
Pulmonaria virginica (Mertensia virginica (L.) Pers. ex Link) – Virginian Lung-Wort
Philadelphus coronarius (Philadelphus coronarius L.) – Common Philadelphus
Passiflora caerulea (Passiflora caerulea L.) – Common Passion Flower
Philadelphus coronarius (Philadelphus coronarius L.) – Syringa, or Mock Orange
Polemonium caeruleum (Polemonium caeruleum L.) – Blue Greek Valerian
Phlox paniculata (Phlox paniculata) L. – Panicled Lychnidea
Polygala chamaebuxus (Polygaloides chamaebuxus (L.) O. Schwarz) – Box-leaved Milkwort
Physalis alkekengi (Physalis alkekengi L.) – Winter Cherry
Rudbeckia purpurea (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) – Purple Rudbeckia
Rosa lutea (Rosa foetida J. Herrm.) – Single yellow rose
Rhododendron ponticum (Rhododendron ponticum L.) – Pontic Rhododendron
Robinia hispida (Robinia hispida L.) – Rose Acacia
Symphytum orientale (Symphytum orientale L.) – Eastern Comfrey
Salvia indica (Salvia indica L.) – Indian Sage
Sanguinaria canadensis (Sanguinaria canadensis L.) – Canada Puccoon
Saxifraga crassifolia (Bergenia crassifolia (L.) Fritsch) – Oval-leaved saxifrage
Syringa vulgaris (Syringa vulgaris L.) – Lilac
Sarracena flava (Sarracenia flava L.) – Yellow Sarracena
Scabiosa atropurpurea (Scabiosa atropurpurea L.) – Sweet scabious
Scilla campanulata (Hyacinthoides hispanica (Mill.) Rothm.) – Bell flowered squill
Sedum anacampseros (Hylotelephium anacampseros (L.) H.Ohba) – Evergreen Orpine
Sophora tetraptera (Sophora tetraptera J.F.Mill.) – Winged-Podded Sophora
Sempervivum arachnoideum (Sempervivum arachnoideum L.) – Cobweb houseleek
Strelitzia reginae (Strelitzia reginae Banks) – Canna-leaved Strelitzia
Solidago stricta (Solidago stricta Aiton) – Willow-leaved Golden Rod
Senecio elegans (Senecio elegans L.) – Double Purple Groundsel
Spartium junceum (Spartium junceum L.) – Spanish Broom
Spiraea lobata (Filipendula rubra (Hill) B.L.Rob.) – Lobe-Leaved Meadow Sweet
Sisyrinchium iridioides (Sisyrinchium angustifolium Mill.) – Iris-leaved Sisyrinchium
Tradescantia virginica (Tradescantia virginiana L.) – Virginian spiderwort
Trillium sessile (Trillium sessile L.) – Sessile Trillium
Thalictrum aquilegifolium (Thalictrum aquilegifolium L.) – Feathered Columbine
Trollius americanus (Trollius laxus subsp. laxus Salisb.) American Globe flower
Tropaeolum majus (Tropaeolum majus L.) – Greater Nasturtium
Valeriana rubra (Centranthus ruber subsp. ruber (L.) DC.) – Red Valerian
Veronica sibirica (Veronicastrum sibiricum (L.) Pennell) – Siberian Speedwell
Vinca rosea (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don) – Madagascar Periwinkle
Viburnum tinus (Viburnum tinus L.) – Laurustinus
Wachendorfia paniculata (Wachendorfia paniculata Burm.) – Panicled Wachendorfia
Vitex negundo (Vitex negundo L.) – Five-leaved Chaste Tree
