Bee Orchid and Lady's Slipper, Antique British Orchid Plate, circa 1873

This antique botanical plate is Plate 218 of Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, an original color plate from Volume V, published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. about 1873. It shows five British orchids, named in the caption as Bee Ophrys, Late Spider Orchis, Spider Orchis, Fly Orchis and Common Lady's Slipper.

The lady's slipper opens at the top of the sheet with a swollen yellow pouch and long twisted maroon sepals. Below it the bee ophrys and the two spider orchids carry pink or greenish sepals around rounded brown lips with paler yellowish markings, the features that give them their insect names. The fly orchis, right of center, has small dark red flowers along a slender spike. The leaves and stems are a clean strong green throughout, the broad leaves finely veined, and the stems are cut off square at the foot of the sheet, with the plate number printed at the upper left.

This plate belongs to The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, the six volume flora that Anne Pratt, 1806 to 1893, wrote and illustrated herself. It was published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. of Bedford Street, Covent Garden, for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, with Scribner, Welford and Armstrong as the New York house. The plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of George Baxter's color process. This sheet comes from Volume V, whose title page records 237 species in color.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.