Nephelea mexicana (Schltdl. & Cham.) R.M.Tryon
· Collected c. 1828; mounted and annotated later, 19th–20th c.
This is a botanical herbarium specimen, not a political cartoon or caricature. The sheet displays pressed fronds of Nephelea mexicana, a Mexican tree fern, collected from the state of Hidalgo and mounted on archival paper with handwritten collector's notes and a printed revision label. It belongs to the Natural History Museum, London. No satirical tradition applies here. Describing it as caricature or comic ancestry would be fabrication. The object is a scientific primary source in systematic botany, an isotype voucher used to fix the name Cyathea mexicana Schltdl. & Cham., later transferred to Nephelea by Tryon in 1970.
About this artifact
- Date
- Collected c. 1828; mounted and annotated later, 19th–20th c.
- Rights
- Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
- Restoration
- Digitally restored and hosted by ComicBooks.com.
Part of our mission to preserve and restore the public-domain heritage of the medium.