Yellow Water Iris and Saffron Crocus, Antique Botanical Plate, circa 1873

This is an original antique botanical plate, Plate 219 from Volume V of Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, circa 1873, showing two British irises, Columna's trichonema and five crocuses. The caption names Yellow Water Iris (Iris pseudacorus, printed as Yelloy), Stinking Iris (I. foetissima), Columna's Trichonema (Trichonema columna), Purple Spring Crocus (Crocus vernus), Least Spring Crocus (C. minimus), Golden Crocus (C. aureus), Saffron Crocus (C. sativus) and Naked Flowering Crocus (C. nudiflorus).

The yellow water iris opens at the top left, its broad yellow falls veined with brown. To its right is the stinking iris in pale blue and lilac with yellow. Below them the crocuses are drawn in rose purple at the left, deep golden yellow at the center and pale lilac with darker stripes at the right, where orange red stigmas show in an opened flower. The small trichonema with pale blue flowers hangs at the lower left, and the bulbs and corms with their roots are drawn along the foot of the sheet.

The plate comes from The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, the six volume flora for which Anne Pratt (1806 to 1893) wrote the text and drew the plants. It was published in London by Frederick Warne and Co., Bedford Street, Covent Garden, for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, circa 1873, with Scribner, Welford and Armstrong as the New York house. This sheet belongs to Volume V, whose title page records 237 species in color. The plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of George Baxter's color process.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the edges, strongest at the right and top. Light spotting in the margins and a small gray stain in the right margin. Small nicks along the right edge. Slight corner wear.

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