Yellow Toadflax with Peloria Flower Forms, Antique Botanical Plate, circa 1873

An original antique botanical plate of the British flora, printed in color in London for Frederick Warne and Co., this sheet is given over to seven British toadflaxes, with the peloria forms of the yellow toadflax drawn separately. A full spike of Linaria vulgaris stands at the center of the sheet in bright yellow with orange lips, and the two peloria flowers are drawn large at the foot of the page, each one a regular five spurred star instead of the usual two lipped flower. Lilac and white toadflaxes trail at the left, a deep crimson purple spike rises at the top right, and ivy shaped leaves run through the lower half.

Anne Pratt's survey of the British flora appeared in six volumes from Frederick Warne and Co. of Covent Garden, London, the five volumes of flowering plants issued first and the volume of grasses, sedges and ferns added in 1873 to complete the set. Volume IV, from which this plate comes, carries 249 species printed in color, and the title page also names the New York agents Scribner, Welford and Armstrong.

A plate from this flora carries its period in every line: the close observation, the crowded but orderly arrangement, the soft printed color laid over careful outline. It sits as comfortably in a modern interior as in a Victorian one, and it has the advantage over a single flower study of giving several related plants together, which makes it rewarding to look at more than once.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along all four edges. Slight wear at the top left corner.

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