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 plate originated with the Royal Horticultural Society and passed through Wheldon & Wesley, one of the great natural history dealers of the 20th century. We came into the archive by accident and have spent the time since trying to share it as widely as we can.