Tropical Botanical Illustrations of John Lindley

The beautiful tropical botanical illustrations shared here are from John Lindley’s 1821 book Collectanea Botanica, or Figures and botanical illustrations of rare and curious exotic plants.

John Lindley (1799-1865) was an English botanist and gardener born in Norfolk. As a child, John helped out in his father’s commercial nursery, sparking his interest in botany.

He was largely a self-taught botanist. As a young man, he left Norfolk for London to work as an assistant to the famous naturalist Sir Joseph Banks.

Lindley’s first book was on fruit, followed by a book on Roses, where he described many new species.  But his favourite flowers were orchids.  At the time, he knew more about orchids than anyone else. He described and named nearly 150 new species of flowers in his lifetime.

In his book of tropical plant illustrations (Collectanea Botanical), many plants came from the Orchid family. He painted the botanical illustrations in the book himself.

Lindley was pivotal in saving Kew Gardens, opening it to the public and turning it into the UK’s botanical headquarters. His famous collection of orchids was housed in the Kew herbarium.  

His fellow botanists are well respected, as reflected in his name and honoured in the names of more than 200 plant species. He also contributed to the Edwards Botanical Register.

The Tropical Botanical Illustrations

To download the tropical plant print you want, click on the title above the illustrations. A higher-resolution image will open in a new window in your browser. If you click on that image, you can save it to your device for printing.

All the vintage botanical illustrations featured here are in the Public Domain, so you can print and use them however you wish.

1. Bromelia fastuosa

More commonly known as Bromelia Pinguin these days. Found in Central America, the Caribbean and Northern South America. The plant’s prickly leaves are used as a protective fence in Jamaica. A thread can be made from the fibres. 

2. Trizeuxis falcata

An orchid flower native to the American tropics.

3. Pinedrops Botanical Illustration

Pterospora andromedea, pinedrops, are widespread across the Americas.

4. Chinese Primrose

5. West Indian Tufted Airplant

6. Amaryllis solandraeflora

7. Amaryllis vittata major

This tropical botanical illustration is now known as  Hippeastrum, or “knight’s-star-lily”.

8. Tropical Hydrangea

The flower is also commonly known as “Pink ball“.

9. Strawberry Guava

10. Metrosideros vera

11. Mytrus disticha

12. Persian Poppy

These poppies are grown to produce thebaine, which is commercially converted to codeine and semi-synthetic opiates.

13. Goodyera pubescens

This flower is more commonly known as the downy rattlesnake plantain. It is a very common orchid in North America.

14. Theophrasta jussieui 

15. Oncidium barbatum

Another tropical botanical illustration of an orchid.

16. Ornithogalum fimbriatum

17. Triumfetta rhomboidea

A tropical botanical illustration of a plant more commonly known as Chinese Bur.

18. Raphiolepis ruba 

A variety of hawthorn plants.

19. Lissochilus speciosus

This flower is an orchid species found in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. The plants usually grow in grasslands on sandy or clay soils.

Other Victorian botanical books include the Temple of Flora and Paxton’s Flower Garden.

There is a collection of giant water lily (Victoria Amazonica) prints from the Waterlily House at Kew Gardens.

I hope you enjoyed these tropical botanical illustrations by John Lindley. Don’t forget to check out the many other vintage botanicals on the site, including the flower illustrations of individual species. There are also some wonderful tropical house plant drawings and gorgeous watercolours of Asian fruits.

Also, the vintage nature sketchbooks of the Dutch East Indies by Jan Brandes.