Curtis Botanical – Plate 7135 – Rosenbach's Iris

Original antique black-and-white botanical print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 7135.

Plant: Iris (Juno) Rosenbachiana (Rosenbach's Iris). Native to: Central Asia (Tajikistan / Uzbekistan / Afghanistan).

Named for a Russian Imperial governor of Turkestan — a reminder that the 19th-century Great Game between Britain and Russia played out partly through competing botanical expeditions across Central Asia. Violet flowers appear before the leaves in early spring.

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.