The continual demand among graphic artists for floral and botanical illustrations, combined with the perennial popularity of the Victorian style, have inspired this practical royalty-free collection. Artist Carol Belanger Grafton has selected 344 handsome and botanically accurate wood engravings from two notable botanical classics: Paxton's Flower Garden by John Lindley and Sir Joseph Paxton, 1850–53; and The Natural History of Plants: Their Forms, Growth, Reproduction, and Distribution by Anton Kerner von Marilaun and F. W. Oliver, 1902.

Illustrations include exquisitely detailed renderings of flowers and other plant features of exotic specimens from around the world: passionflower, baobab, spider lily, hop, quaking grass, mourning cypress, American mangrove, wayfaring tree, Christmas rose, Indian rhododendron, false indigo, winged pea, Persian walnut. cat's-claw mimosa, Bhutan cypress, and many more.

The engravings encompass a broad spectrum of plant forms: trees, shrubs, aquatic and climbing plants, evergreens, vines, brushes, herbs, various perennials, and others. Orchids are especially well represented; over 10 percent of the illustrations in this volume depict orchids. Each illustration is accompanied by an identifying caption that provides the scientific name and a brief description of the plant, its native region, and if it is a flower, the coloration of the blossoms.

The clarity and accuracy of these engravings is striking; they are well-suited to reproduction for almost any graphic purpose. Moreover, all illlustrations are royalty-free; no prior permission or fee is required for their use.

Invaluable to graphic artists in need of a comprehensive archive of unusual floral illustrations, this versatile reference will delight botanists, naturalists, flower lovers, and any admirer of exotic plants that are depicted with the meticulous clarity and detail of fine engravings.