A few months ago, we featured images of Spring flowers from our botanical prints collection. Now that summer is upon us, there is a new selection of botanical illustrations by James Sowerby in the Herbarium exhibition, curated by archives volunteer Claire Young. All these summer flowers are also represented in our Herbarium collection, so we’ve paired some of them up here for you to take a closer look.

This image of the poppy was created by James Sowerby in 1799, and the print would have been hand coloured. The colour is as vibrant today as it was two centuries ago. Astonishingly, poppies preserved in our Herbarium also retain their colour. Botanist Langley Kitching collected this specimen in Norfolk in July 1899. Poppies have been associated with remembrance since Victorian times, and artist Marian Edwards has featured them in her exhibition at Winterbourne. For her, they symbolise hope in a time of loss. Find out more about Marian’s exhibition here.

The sticky catchfly got its common name because of the stickiness of its stems. It’s a great plant for attracting pollinators. The specimen, collected in 1910 by McTaggart Cowan, carries the stamp of the Watson Botanical Exchange Club. Botanists often exchanged interesting specimens, filling in the gaps in their own collections. 

Honeysuckle symbolises devotion and fidelity. The flower appears on the ceiling of Winterbourne House, in plasterwork by George Bankart, a renowned Arts & Crafts plaster worker. Perhaps Bankart deliberately chose the honeysuckle to symbolise the love within the Nettlefold family. Sowerby has depicted the plant in superb detail. He was renowned for the scientific accuracy of his illustrations. 

The dark purple flowers of the dusky cranesbill enliven many domestic gardens.  Their colour has held up well in this Herbarium specimen of 1916. The Rev. Douglas Heath, who collected the specimen, has labelled it ‘Weed in garden, introduced from meadow’ in Merton Park in Norfolk. Heath was a prolific collector who combined his passion for plants with his Church of England ministry. Learn more about him here.

Lovers of Renaissance art will recognise the Latin phrase ‘noli me tangere’ as the title of many artistic interpretations of Jesus saying to Mary Magdalene ‘do not touch me’ after the resurrection. The plant has acquired this name because at the slightest touch, its seedpods explode, showering seeds a long distance away from the parent plant. The vibrant yellow flowers have earned the plant the alternative name of jewelweed, and the colour comes across beautifully in Sowerby’s illustration. The Herbarium specimen was collected at Windermere in 1888.

All these James Sowerby prints can be seen in the Herbarium exhibition on the first floor until Autumn, when they will be replaced with another seasonal display.

Henrietta Lockhart (Curator) & Claire Young (Archives and Collections Volunteer)