This book presents the extraordinary beauty of an eclectic range of botanical specimens, both familiar and exotic. The 89 intricate illustrations are each by a different member of the French Society of Botanical Illustration, an institution created in 2011 from a passion for all things flora, and with the ambition to re-assert the great traditional of French botanical drawing, to revitalize the link between professional and amateur artists and promote their work internationally.

These glorious images are realized in watercolor, colored pencil, gouache and graphite, and reveal a dizzying spectrum of plants-from magnolias, camellias and agapanthus; to peach, grapes and asparagus; to walnut, chestnut and palm trees... Whether an illustration captures the ruby drops of a raspberry, the feathery petals of poppies or a shiny stalk of bamboo, the results convey not only the precise physical characteristics and charm of their subjects, but also the patience and verve of their creators.

Botanical illustration gives us not only a meticulous and artistic description of plants, it also invites us to take a more informed look at nature and to become aware of its vulnerability. Knowledge shines a light on the object of our attention. - Thomas Haevermans, botanist at the French National Natural History Museum, Paris

Co-published with the Societe Francaise d'Illustration Botanique, Paris