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Picturing Pulter’s Flowers

by Frances E. Dolan

While the flower-speakers in Pulter’s poem mention their own and their rivals’ color, height, habit, and shape, the poem requires us to be able to imagine what each speaker might look like. Many readers now need some help. These roughly contemporary illustrations can help to bring the flower-speakers to life.

1. Woodbine (at left)

Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82), Honeysuckle, Royal Collection Trust, ⓒ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020.

2. Tulip

Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82), Tulips c. 1650-82, Royal Collection Trust, ⓒ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020.

3. Wallflower or Heartsease

A wallflower (Cheiranthus cheiri) with an associated insect and its anatomical segments. Coloured etching, c. 1830. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

4. Lily

A lily (Lilium album), etching by Nicholas Robert, c. 1660, after himself. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

5. Rose

A rose (Rosa species): flowering stem, etching by Nicholas Robert, c. 1660, after himself. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

6. Poppy

De historia stirpium commentarii insignes: poppy. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

7. Violet

De historia stirpium commentarii insignes: viola purpurea. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

8. Heliotrope

Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82), sunflower and greyhound, Royal Collection Trust, ⓒ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020.

This is the other flower commonly called a heliotrope. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1774. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

9. Auricula

Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82), Auriculas, Royal Collection Trust, ⓒ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020.

10. Flower De Luce or Iris

Five types of iris (Iris species): flowering stems. Coloured lithograph. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

11. July Flower

Striped red carnation (Dianthus species): flowering stem. Watercolour. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

12. Adonis

Crispijn van de Passe, “Adonis annua L.” Hortus floridus, 1614. Public Domain. This volume encouraged its readers to color in the plates themselves. This colored plate is from the copy owned and digitized by Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle, Germany.

The Tudor Rose and the Stuart Fleur de Lis

In the upper left corner of this portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, called The Pelican Portrait, usually attributed to Nicholas Hilliard, we see the Tudor rose, combining white and red petals to symbolize how the Tudor dynasty resolved the War of the Roses as a union of the houses of York (symbolized by the white rose) and Lancaster (red).

“The Pelican Portrait,” Walker Art Gallery. Reproduced through a Creative Commons license.

In the upper left corner of this seventeenth-century engraved portrait of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, we see the coat of arms of the Stuart family, including three fleurs de lis.

“The Stuart Fleur de Lis,” British Museum. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).