Curtis Botanical – Plate 5042 – Dominy's Calanthe — First Hybrid Orchid

Original antique black-and-white botanical print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 5042.

Plant: Calanthe Dominii (First Hybrid Orchid — Hybrida). Origin: Veitch & Sons Nursery, London, 1856.

The first hybrid orchid ever deliberately bred by human hands. Created by John Dominy in 1856. When botanist John Lindley saw it, he said: 'You will drive botanists mad.' Every hybrid orchid in existence today traces its conceptual lineage to this moment.

Printed in London. Each print is an original page removed from a bound volume of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, the world's oldest continuously published botanical journal (founded 1787). Uncolored plate. Sold individually. Minor age-related toning consistent with 19th-century paper.

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.