Southern magnolias are among some of the most dramatic and beautiful plants found in the southeastern United States. The thick, waxy leaves are quite distinct as are the lovely white flowers. This magnolia flower drawing is from a book written by Mark Catesby (1683 – 1749). It was published in 1767 and called A Collection of 85 Curious Trees and Shrubs, the Produce of North America.
Magnolia flowers can grow to be as large as a dinner plate. Having lived among them most of my life, magnolia trees are something so uniquely southern that they just seem like they couldn’t grow anywhere else.
This book plate was most likely drawn and colored by hand. The artist is left unrecognized like so many of the talented painters who would create these plates we all treasure so much all these years later.
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.
