Vintage Botanical Print - Opuntia elatior (Syn: Opuntia polyanthos)

This is a quality reproduction vintage print of Opuntia elatior (Syn: Opuntia polyanthos) reproduced from a colour-printed, hand-finished stipple engraving by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759 - 1840) from his Histoire de Plantes Grasses Vol 3. Plate 138 (1799). Redouté was a Belgian botanical artist who is today considered one of the finest and most influential of the genre. In 1782, Redouté travelled to Paris where he came to the attention of Marie Antoinette who became his patron. In 1787, he travelled to London and studied plants at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. He was later the official artist of Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Prickly Pear that Redouté captures here has a complex taxonomic history with many synonyms. It was first described in 1768 as Opuntia elatior yet when Redouté paints it in the 1790's he calls it Opuntia polyanthos, a name that wasn't ever actually ascribed to it although it was ascribed the name Opuntia polyantha in 1812 and Cactus polyanthos in 1826. Whatever you call it, it is found today in coastal Columbia and Panama and its outer petals - tinged pinkish-salmon - can often give the unopened flowers a distinct red colour.