Marsh Mallow and Cotton

A detailed illustration depicting a collection of plants, including marsh mallow and birthwort, from “Historia Botanica Practica” by Giambattista Morandi, the Italian physician and botanist who lived in the 18th century. This exceptional herbarium was published in 1744 in Milan by Petri Francisci Malatestae. Morandi was renowned for his precise and realistic drawings of plants, and his work was among the most important botanical publications of its time. The plants shown in the illustration:

1. Marsh mallow - Althea Dioscoridis , & Plinii

2. Common hollyhock - Alcea vulgaris

3. Herbaceous cotton - Xylon , sive Gossipium herbaceum

4. Common Indian mallow - Abutilon Avic

5. Round-leaved wintergreen - Pyrola rotundifolia , major

6. Round-leaved birthwort - Aristolochia rotunda

7. Long birthwort - Aristolochia longa vera

8. Virginia snakeroot - Aristolochia Pistolochia , feu Serpentaria Virginiana , caule nodoso