Journal Number 91
June 2004

HISTORICAL REPRINT

Botanical Drawings 3
This is the third part from Walter Hood Fitch's articles first published in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1869.

Composite flowers, such as the Daisy, after being faintly defined, should be subdivided by lines
radiating from the centre, as a guide for the direction of the outer florets. Inattention to this
precaution is apt to result in the said florets being all endowed with a twist or curve to one side
or the other, an arrangement unknown, I believe, to botanists, in this natural order.

In drawings for scientific purposes, it is proper to mark the number of outer florets, also the
number of teeth at the tips, as in some plants they are more or less numerous. The direction
the florets assume, whether spreading or reflexed, should be noted.

The florets of the disc, or centre, will be found rather troublesome to render, being geometrically arranged, and often very numerous. An attempt to put in every floret, particularly would be certain to result in confusion, therefore it is a saving in labour, and more effective, merely to put in the more prominent parts which strike the eye of the observer, such as the anthers or stigmas.

Four-petaled flowers, such as the Wallflower, should be treated somewhat similarly when they
are large enough to be worthy of that trouble; a square or circle should be first drawn round
the petals, then divide it into four parts - great assistance will be derived from it in insuring
the relative size of the petals.

Pendulous flowers, such as the Fuchsia, may be treated likewise, but in such flowers there is
one thing that should be particularly attended to - the curve formed by the peduncle or flower-
stalk, owing to its slenderness or the weight of the flower. To make sure of the proper curve,
it is useful to indicate the flower-stalk by a faint line carried through the flower as its axis in
sketching, which will be found of great service, and the errors frequently visible in drawings
of such things would be of less common occurrence, not to speak of the protruding filaments
pointing in various singular though impossible directions. I shall not attempt to furnish more
than hints as to sketching oblique or irregular flowers.

The following cut (Fig. G ii) will show how to fit the corolla on its tube with some degree of
certainty, but the amount of obliquity must be given by observation. To flowers such as those
of the Aconitum or Monkshood, the Larkspur, and labiate flowers generally, often very varied
in form, many of the previous re-marks will hardly apply; and the best way to proceed is to
measure one part by another; thus the tube may be rather longer than the calyx, the upper
lip may be shorter or longer than the lower one, etc.

Be careful to represent the teeth of the calyx in their proper place in relation to the divisions
of the corolla, viz., alternate with them, or intermediate.

And as a general fact, however irregular the flower may be, the teeth of the calyx point betwixt
the petals or divisions. The want of observation of this fact is an error very common in slovenly drawings, but in the estimation of a botanist its exhibition would be quite enough to shake his faith in the trustworthiness of any artist, however beautiful his works might otherwise be, as it betrays carelessness, which is worse than ignorance.

Botanical artists require to possess a certain amount of equanimity to enable them to endure criticism, for as no two flowers are exactly alike, it is hardly to be expected that a drawing should keep pace with their variations in size or colour, and I may add that I never yet ventured to exaggerate a little in that way but I have found that adverse criticism has been nullified by Nature excelling itself, as it were, under the fostering care of the many able cultivators of the present day.

Orchids

Perhaps there are no flowers more varied in size, form, and colour, than those of Orchids, and I think I may add more difficult to sketch, if the artist has not some general knowledge of their normal structure. Dr. Lindley remarked, upon seeing the representatives of three different genera flourishing on the same spike, that after that they were capable of any eccentricity. Indeed they almost seem to have been created to puzzle botanists, or to test an artist's abilities, and consequently they are all the more worthy of a skilful pencil in endeavouring to do justice to them.

Owing to the great variation in form presented by some species, if the artist render correctly any specimen put in his hands, he is liable to have his veracity called into question, and, if any abnormal growth come in his way, he had better not be rash enough to represent what may be regarded as impossible by some authority who has made Orchids his speciality. It might tend to upset some favourite theory, or possibly to destroy a pet genus - an act of wanton impertinence which no artist endowed with a proper respect for the dicta of men of science would ever wilfully be guilty of!

It is impossible to lay down any rules for sketching these protean plants, but if the structure is not correctly rendered in a drawing it is worse than useless, as no colouring will redeem it. At the risk of saying what I presume is well known, I may state that the parts of the flower consist of a germen, or ovary, surmounted by three sepals, two petals, a lip, and a column, as in the following cut.

As Orchid flowers are so very irregular in the relative size of their parts, and especially the lip,
the best way is to measure one part by another, and, if a front view of a large flower be given, a
perpendicular line should be made, or imagined, through the centre, and also transverse ones,
as guides for the pose of the petals, etc.

In the following sketch I suggest a means of testing the relative size of a front and side view. The artist should be guided by the front flowers in his drawing, for there is a liability to make the side views too large. Another matter to be noted, and which is often neglected, is the junction of the flower-stalk and column; the way to prevent any hitch in this respect is to carry the outline of the germen and flower-stalk through to the back of the column, as in the right-hand cut of Fig. I.

Drawings of the smaller species of Orchids are of little scientific value without a flower and magnified representations of its parts, as the smaller they
are the more curious is often their structure.

In magnified portions of simple flowered species, it is generally enough to give a side and front
view of the lip and column, but in some cases it is necessary to pull the flower asunder, in order
to represent parts otherwise hidden. If the flower or its parts be just large enough to be comprehended by the naked eye without a lens, it would be as well for the artist to regard it with one eye only, or he will find if he sketches it as seen with both eyes, that he sees round the corners, and is apt to commit an error similar to that of representing both ends of a drum as visible from the same point of view.

In the next cut (Fig. J) I offer a sketch of an Orchid, to show how to fill a sheet of paper as
tastefullyas the plant will allow, so as to leave no unnecessary vacant space. Some Orchids
are very unmanageable in this respect.

If the pseudobulbs are compressed, it is as well to show the flowering one edgewise, so as to have variety in the position of the leaves, viz., a front and back view of them. The same may be said also of the spikes of flowers.

After deciding whence the spike should spring, and the curve, if any, to be given to it, I would recommend that the attachment of the flower-stalks should be ticked off, and that a line continuous with the stalks be carried through the flower faintly to the column, which should be put in first as the axis, then the lip and other petals can be correctly placed with reference to it. By following this simple plan, the flowers, though they may hide the flower-stalk, will be certain to be correctly placed.