This pretty plant looks like what would happen if you crossed a pine tree and a lily flower. Obviously, that’s not the case but doesn’t it just look a bit like that?
This wonderful colored book plate flower image is from all the way back in 1839. The artist wasn’t specifically mentioned by the author so it is unclear if it is the work of the author or some talented artist lost to history.
The Erica Tricolor plant produces large, showy flowers that range in color from a reddish flesh-color, which gradually becomes dark brown towards the tips and pale pink on the inside.
I removed some of the worst foxing from the picture but other than that, I’ll leave it to you to edit this vintage floral image however you wish.
This flower drawing is from an 1839 edition of Paxton’s Magazine of Botany and was drawn by Elmer Boyd Smith (1860-1943).
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.