I just love these vintage botanical prints. This petraea stapelia drawing is from Familiar Indian Flowers by Lena Lowis. It was published in 1878.
Lowis shared with us a variety of lovely flower illustrations; all flowers that were grown in India. This plant is a native of South America and wasn’t all that commonly found in India, despite being included in the book.
It grows much like wisteria and can grow stems as thick as a man’s leg. In India, it bloomed in February and October but the flowers are prettier in earlier part of the year. While I think they are lovely flowers, the author didn’t really think so. But, they did admit that the shrub was quite beautiful when it was covered with a mass of blue and purple, drooping flower heads in February.
I’ve found a fairly large patraea stapelia drawing to share with you – too big to show here. But, just click on the drawing below to view and download the largest version.
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.
