This beautifully illustrated book will explore the purpose and function of the whole range of botanical art, from early woodcut herbals and painted florilegia, botanical treatises and records of new discoveries, to gardening manuals, seed catalogues and field guides for the amateur enthusiast.

Drawing on a superb archive of material in the Victoria and Albert Museum, much of it hitherto unpublished, it ranges from the 15th-century printed book to the work of contemporary illustrators, taking in unique florilegia, the work of acknowledged masters such as Ehret and Redoute, and examples from China and Japan. In doing so it illuminates the complex cultural history of flowering plants, and brings a fresh approach to this perennially fascinating subject.