Curtis Botanical – Plate 6971 – Bee Orchid / Wasp-mimic Oncidium

Original antique black-and-white print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 6971.

Your note is exactly right — this orchid's flowers are designed to look precisely like bees or wasps. It practices sexual deception: male bees attempt to mate with the flower (which mimics a female bee in colour, shape, and scent), and in doing so accidentally pollinate it.

Orchid collectors and anyone interested in evolutionary biology or plant mimicry.

Uncolored plate. Condition consistent with age of volume. Each print is a unique piece of botanical history, printed on paper aged over a century.

This is an original uncolored (plain) plate from leftover publisher stock of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, printed in London. It was issued uncolored and never bound. We bought the holding at the estate of a Chicago rare bookseller. Labels and stock papers from the British dealer Wheldon & Wesley came with it. Library stamps, when present, are noted on the listing.