Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in books, magazines, and other media. Some are sold as artworks. Often composed by a botanical illustrator in consultation with a scientific author, their creation requires an understanding of plant morphology and access to specimens and references.
Many illustrations are in watercolour, but may also be in oils, ink, or pencil, or a combination of these and other media. The image may be life-size or not, though at times a scale is shown, and may show the life cycle and/or habitat of the plant and its neighbors, the upper and reverse sides of leaves, and ...
Current Images
View on-wiki →
Main article image
Add 22332 f85r.jpg
Paeony (Paeonia officinalis L.) by Gherardo Cibo
Mattioli's Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo, f. 85r
Albrecht Dürer, Tuft of Cowslips, 1526, NGA 74162.jpg
Banksia coccinea (Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae plate 3).jpg
This is a scan of Plate 3 from Ferdinand Bauer's Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae. The plant f...
Botanical illustration of Lilium superbum.jpg
Botanical illustration of Lilium superbum
British 19th Century, East Indian Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), late 19th century, NGA 52325.jpg
Electrotype- Alois Auer.jpg
Digital reproduction of a work by a nature printing process (electrotyping), developed by the author...
ViennaDioscoridesPlant.jpg
Illustration form the Vienna Dioscurides.