FLO4570106: Cat's claw flower, Martynia speciosa, native to Mexico. Handcoloured stipple copperplate engraving by Barrois from a botanical illustration by Pancrace Bessa from Mordant de Launay's “Herbier General de l'Amateur,”” Audot, Paris, 1820. The Herbier was published from 1810 to 1827 and edited by Mordant de Launay and Loiseleur-Deslongchamps. Bessa (1772-1830s), along with Redoute and Turpin, is considered one of the greatest English botanical artists of the 19th century. / Bridgeman Images