''The Banksias'', by

Celia Rosser Celia Elizabeth Rosser (born 1930) is an Australian botanical illustrator, best known for having published ''The Banksias'', a three-volume series of monographs containing watercolour paintings of every ''Banksia'' species. Born Celia Elizabe ...

, is a three-volume series of monographs containing paintings of every ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...

'' species. Its publication represented the first time such a large genus had been entirely painted by a single

botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical ...

. It has been described as "one of the outstanding botanical works of this century." The paintings themselves are

watercolours Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

on Arches rag paper. The three volumes comprise plates reproduced using

offset printing Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on t ...

, and bound in green leather. Alex George wrote the accompanying text. Rosser began working on the series in 1974. Volume I of ''The Banksias'', containing 24 plates, was published in 1981. The edition comprised 730 books and 100 portfolios. Volume II, published in 1988, also contained 24 plates and was also released in an edition of 730 books and 100 portfolios. Volume III, completed in 2000, contained 28 plates, and was released in an edition of 530 books and 300 portfolios. Since the publication of Volume III, a new ''Banksia'', '' B. rosserae'' has been described; Rosser subsequently painted it and released a set of prints. In 2007, the genus ''

Dryandra ''Banksia'' ser. ''Dryandra'' is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus ''Banksia''. It was considered a separate genus named ''Dryandra'' until early 2007, when it was merged into ''Banksia'' on the basis of extensiv ...

'' was transferred to ''

'', so there are now a great many ''Banksia'' species that have not been painted by Rosser. Each volume of ''The Banksia''s has been presented to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

by the Australian Government as a gift of the Australian people. Largely on the basis of her work for ''The Banksias'', Rosser was awarded a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

1995 for her contribution to botanical art, and the

Jill Smythies Award The Jill Smythies Award of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1986 and is awarded annually to a botanical artist. The award was established by Bertram Smythies, in honour of his wife, Florence Mary Smythies ("Jill"), whose career a ...

for botanical art in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banksias Botanical art Books about Australian natural history

The Banksias ''The Banksias'', by Celia Rosser, is a three-volume series of monographs containing paintings of every ''Banksia'' species. Its publication represented the first time such a large genus had been entirely painted by a single botanical artist. It ...