Curtis Botanical – Plate 8838 – Ethiopian Pavetta / Abyssinian Bride's Bush

Original antique black-and-white print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 8838.

A coffee-family shrub from Ethiopia and the East African highlands bearing masses of tiny white star-shaped flowers — the genus Pavetta takes its name from the Sinhalese word for the plant. The coffee family (Rubiaceae) also gave us quinine (from cinchona bark), gardenia, and ixora.

Ethiopian and East African heritage communities in Chicago.

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.