Drawn by Frederick William Burbidge (1847-1905)
Engraved by John Nugent Fitch (1840-1927)
Xiphion kolpakowskianum (now Iris kolpakowskiana)
Published in Curtis's Botanical Magazine (London: 1880, Vol. XXXVI)
Courtesy of National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin
William Curtis (1746-99), an apothecary and botanist, published the first edition of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in 1787. It is the longest running botanical magazine in the world. It includes descriptions of a plant’s properties, history, growth, characteristics, and common names. These texts are accompanied by scientific botanical portraits. Throughout its 200-year history Irish botanical artists have contributed drawings of native and exotic plants to this important publication.
Frederick William Burbidge, a gardener and writer, made this drawing of an iris which flowered “under glass”, and sent it to Curtis’s Magazine along with specimens. The plant is native to Asia. It grows on hillsides near melting snowlines, such as the Tien Shan Mountains in Turkestan. Burbidge spent several years in Borneo collecting plants for the James Veitch Nurseries, before becoming curator of the Trinity College Botanic Gardens in 1880.
You can see Burbidge’s original watercolour (1880; RBG Kew) on display in the exhibition from 20 July.
Read a digitised copy of this volume of Curtis's Botanical Magazine on archive.org
