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 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.