Dracunculus vulgaris

This is an original watercolor drawing by Elizabeth Blackwell for her work, A Curious Herbal, published between 1737-1739.

Blackwell was a Scottish genteel woman trained in the arts of drawing and painting throughout her childhood, but challenged the expectations of using floral art as a hobby. She was the first woman to have singularly published an herbal, an encyclopedic text detailing medicinal plants and their uses. Drawn from actual specimens, A Curious Herbal depicts over 500 botanical species. Blackwell’s complete work was published in two volumes and had the full title of: A Curious Herbal containing five hundred cuts of the most useful plants, which are now used in the practice of physick, to which is added a short description of ye plants and their common uses in physick.