Tracing the Rosebud Orchid: Botanical Illustration and Ecological Awareness in 18th- to 21st-Century America

“Tracing the Rosebud Orchid” will be on view in the Student Exhibition Corridor within Sterling Memorial Library from May 4 to Oct. 25.

Drawn from the Yale University Collections and beyond, “Tracing the Rosebud Orchid” narrates the botanical history of one such species: the rosebud orchid (Cleistesiopsis divaricata), also called the spreading pogonia or dragonhead pogonia, endemic to the endangered longleaf pine savannas of the southeastern United States. The rosebud orchid population has significantly declined since the eighteenth century, when it entered the historical record through botanical illustration, a form that has long shaped botany as an artistic, scientific, and cultural enterprise.

Orchids exist in everyday spaces—homes, supermarkets, florist shops. They represent species sourced from tropical regions and hybridized for commercial markets. Perpetuated as an exotic import, the concept of a native orchid is an unusual prospect to most. Yet hundreds of species naturally occur across the United States alone.

From its first known illustration through the present day, the orchid has emerged as a symbol of national identity, innovator of modern science, catalyst of commercialization, driver of gender dynamics, and herald of biodiversity loss. This exhibition explores these various roles of the rosebud orchid in illustration, contextualizing the reasons for its disappearance and the emergence of ecological awareness in America, with the hope of informing ongoing efforts to protect what remains of both the species and its vanishing ecosystem.

Curator: Nithya Guthikonda ’26

Please join us for the opening celebration and curator's talk on May 5. Nithya Guthikonda ’26 will provide a tour of this exciting exhibition and will be available for questions and conversation over light refreshments afterward.