Australian Thysanotus proliferus. Many-flowered Thysanotus Houtteano botanical c1860

$165.00

Antique print of Thysanotus proliferus, Many-flowered Fringe Lily from Australia c1860.

Original lithograph printed in colour by Belgian horticulturist Louis van Houtte, for his splendidly illustrated plant catalogue issued in between 1845 and 1880,

Houtteano botanical plate. Original lithograph printed in colour by Belgian horticulturist Louis Benoit van Houtte (1810-1876). Van Houtte began work in the Ministry of Finance in Brussels, – and spent all his spare time on his passion, botany. In 1832 he set up a monthly magazine entitled L'Horticulteur Belge (Belgian Horticulture), which continued to be published until 1838. In 1833 he opened a small nursery shop.

Devastated following the death of his wife not long after their marriage, Van Houtte left for Brazil in 1834, returning to Europe in 1836. He opened a horticultural school in Ghent, began his Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe, and worked at the Jardin Botanique de Brussels (Brussels Botanical Garden) between 1836 and 1838. Van Houtte is best known for his wonderful catalogue of the Flowers of the Greenhouses and Gardens of Europe, which published information and illustrations of over 2000 different botanical specimens, in collaboration with Charles Le Maire and M. Scheidweiler, between 1845 and 1883. “Establishment Louis van Houtte” in Brussels, was the largest nursery in Europe during this period.

Plate size 245 x 170mm (9.5 x 6.5 inches)