Curtis Botanical – Plate 8020 – Locust Lycaste

Original antique black-and-white botanical print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 8020.

Plant: Lycaste Locusta (Locust Lycaste). Native to: Central America (cloud forest).

Named for its unusual green coloring — locusta means grasshopper. Green flowers are among the rarest in the orchid family. Cloud forest orchids like this one were heavily collected in the Victorian era; several species were nearly driven to extinction by the demand.

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 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.