- Title: Pleione Lagenaria
- Author: Walter Hood Fitch
- Date: c.1865
- Condition: Excellent - remanence of previous binding
- Inches: 11 3/8 x 13 3/4 [Image]
- Centimeters: 28.89 x 34.92 [Image]
- Product ID: 308439
Pleione lagenaria is a naturally occurring hybrid orchid, resulting from a cross between Pleione maculata and Pleione praecox. It is found in the wild in regions of Yunnan (China), Assam (India), and Thailand, typically at elevations of 1300 to 2500 meters. This orchid is adapted to cool to cold climates and is primarily terrestrial, though it may also grow lithophytically (on rocks).
Background on Creator
Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. From a young age, he demonstrated artistic talent and began formal training as a pattern drawer at a textile mill by the age of 13. This early apprenticeship, which involved creating intricate designs for calico fabric and mastering the complex process of engraving and color matching, laid the technical foundation for his later work as a botanical illustrator.
Fitch’s career in botanical art began after a pivotal meeting with William Jackson Hooker, the Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University and editor of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. Impressed by Fitch’s skill and attention to detail, Hooker bought him out of his apprenticeship and employed him to produce botanical illustrations for the magazine. Fitch’s first published lithograph, of Mimulus roseus, appeared in 1834.