The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library

Asclepias tuberosa

About This Item

Title

Asclepias tuberosa

Subject

Plants, Medicinal
Asclepias
Book Illustrations

Description

Possibly engraved by W. B. Annin or Annin and Smith from a drawing by Jacob Bigelow(?).
Colored engraving of Asclepias tuberosa or Butterfly Weed (Figure 1) with "A flower" (Figure 2), "A flower dissected, showing the mass of anthers and one nectary with its horn" (Figure 3), "Magnified section of the mass of anthers, showing the situation of the pistiles inside, etc. A pair of pollen masses is drawn out at the top" (Figure 4), and "Pistils magnified and calyx" (Figure 5).

Creator

Annin, William B., 1791?-1839
Annin & Smith
Bigelow, Jacob, 1786-1879

Source

American Medical Botany was intended for the public and offered descriptions of each depicted plant’s botanical history, chemical analysis, and medical uses. It was the only book published in the United States prior to the introduction of chromolithography to have its plates mechanically printed in color. Bigelow initially planned to use hand colored copperplate engravings but, when this proved be too ambitious, turned to aquatint plates printed in colors à la poupée, with some finished by hand.

Publisher

Digitized by the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Date

1817

Language

lat

Type

StillImage

Identifier

Qx_116.pl26

Original Format

1 print : engraving, color

Physical Dimensions

22 x 14 cm

Citation

Annin, William B., 1791?-1839, Annin & Smith, and Bigelow, Jacob, 1786-1879, “Asclepias tuberosa,” The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library, accessed December 23, 2024, https://cppdigitallibrary.org/items/show/107.