CREATING A BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION

The objective of a botanical scientific illustration, referred to as a botanical plate, is to provide a clear and realistic picture of a plant and its construction. While the final result might be a beautiful drawing, its purpose is ultimately educational.

Botanical plates are usually produced for scientific publications and are the result of a collaboration between an illustrator and a scientist. The illustrator’s task is to provide an easily understood visual description of what the scientist has written in the text. Botanical plates can be prepared in a color medium, but for ultimate clarity, the plate is more often drawn with pen and ink, a medium that reproduces well in print.

Examples of botanical plates

All artworks copyright of the artists

Clockwise from top left:

• Eschscholzia californica, California poppy. Friedrich Guimpel, Horae physicae Berolinenses, 1820. Image courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden www.botanicus.org.
• Penstemon parryi, Parry's penstemon. © Adrianna Hewings.
• Simmondsia californica, Jojoba. Artist uncredited, The Report of the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, 1859. Image courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden www.botanicus.org.
• Echinocereus engelmannii, Engelmann's hedgehog. © Karen Gengel.
• Euphorbia aaron-rossii, Ross's spurge. © 2010 Susan Ashton.
• Amaranthus palmeri, Palmer's amaranth. © Lucretia Breazeale Hamilton, An Illustrated Guide to Arizona Weeds.