A beautiful cattleya labiata drawing from a book About Orchids by Frederick Boyle. Had you entered the right book store or been a member of the right organization in 1893, you might have been able to purchase one of these hand-colored books for yourself. With the Internet and the generosity of the owner of this book, we have these wonderful scans to enjoy and perhaps incorporate into our own projects. I do so love the botanical drawings that can often be found in natural history works of the 19th century.
These orchids were originally found in Brazil and depending upon the specific region have slightly different colors. The most commonly found color is lilac. Whether a bit of artistic license was employed or the specimen from which this drawing was created was a bit unique, ours is much more pinky-peach in color. Both varieties feature yellow in the center of the flower and darker shades of the primary color on the lip.
A larger version of this lovely Cattleya Labiata Drawing is available by clicking on the drawing above.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
