A product of The Age of Enlightenment, Flora Danica is a comprehensive atlas of botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, containing folio-sized pictures of all the wild plants native to Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, in the period from 1761-1883.

It was proposed by G. C. Oeder

Georg Christian Oeder

Georg Christian Edler von Oldenburg Oeder was a German-Danish botanist, medical doctor, economist and social reformer. His name is particularly associated with the initiation of the plate work Flora Danica.-Life and work:Oeder was the son of a Bavarian parish minister, Georg Ludwig Oeder...

, then professor of botany at the Botanic Garden in Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden

The University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden , usually referred to simply as Copenhagen Botanical Garden, is a botanical garden located in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark...

, in 1753 and was completed 123 years later, in 1883. The complete work comprises 51 parts and 3 supplements, containing 3,240 copper engraved plates. The original plan was to cover all plants, including bryophyte

Bryophyte

Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...

s, lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

s and fungi

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 native to crown lands of the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 king, that is Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

, Oldenburg

Oldenburg

Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...

-Delmenhorst

Delmenhorst

Delmenhorst is an urban district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located 10 km/6 miles west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is 25 km/15 miles to the northwest. The city has a total area of 62.36 km²...

 and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 with its North Atlantic dependencies Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

 and Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. However, changes were made due to territorial cessations during the period of publication. After 1814, when the double monarchy of Denmark–Norway

Denmark–Norway

Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...

 was abolished, very few Norwegian plants were included, and similar changes were seen after 1864, when the duchies of Schleswig

Schleswig

Schleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...

 and Holstein

Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

 were ceded. However, in the mid-19-century era of Scandinavism

Scandinavism

Scandinavism and Nordism are literary and political movements that support various degrees of cooperation between the Scandinavian or Nordic countries...

, the Nordiske Naturforskermøde

Scandinavian Scientist Conference

The Scandinavian Scientist Conferences was a series of meetings 1839-1936 for scientist and physicists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, later also Finland and Iceland, in the era Scandinavism...

in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 proposed to make Flora Danica a Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n work. Thus, three supplementary volumes were issued, containing the remaining Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 plants and the more important plants only occurring in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

.

Publishers/editors through time:

	Years	Fascicles	Plates
Georg Christian Oeder Georg Christian Oeder Georg Christian Edler von Oldenburg Oeder was a German-Danish botanist, medical doctor, economist and social reformer. His name is particularly associated with the initiation of the plate work Flora Danica.-Life and work:Oeder was the son of a Bavarian parish minister, Georg Ludwig Oeder...	1761-1771	1-10	1-600
O.F. Müller Otto Friedrich Müller Otto Friedrich Müller, also Mueller was a Danish naturalist.-Biography:Müller was born in Copenhagen. He was educated for the church, became tutor to a young nobleman, and after several years' travel with him settled in Copenhagen in 1767, and married a lady of wealth.His first important works,...	1775-1782	11-15	601-900
Martin Vahl Martin Vahl (botanist) Martin Henrichsen Vahl was a Danish-Norwegian botanist and zoologist.He studied botany in Copenhagen and in Uppsala under Carolus Linnaeus. He edited Flora Danica fasc. XVI-XXI , Symbolæ Botanicæ I-III , Eclogæ Americanæ I-IV and Enumeratio Plantarum I-II...	1787-1799	16-21	901-1260
J.W. Hornemann Jens Wilken Hornemann Jens Wilken Hornemann was a Danish botanist.-Biography:He was a lecturer at the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden from 1801. After the death of Martin Vahl in 1804, the task of publishing the Flora Danica was given to Hornemann, who subsequently issued fasc. 22-39 with a total of 1080...	1806-1840	22-39	1261-2340
S. Drejer Salomon Drejer Salomon Thomas Nicolai Drejer was a Danish botanist. He was a friend of Japetus Steenstrup.Together with Jens Vahl and Joakim Frederik Schouw, Salomon Drejer was the publisher of Flora Danica fasc. 38.... , J. F. Schouw Joakim Frederik Schouw Joakim Frederik Schouw was a Danish lawyer, botanist and politician. From 1821, professor in botany at the University of Copenhagen - first extraordinary professor, but after the death of J.W. Hornemann in 1841 ordinary...  and Jens Vahl Jens Vahl Jens Laurentius Moestue Vahl was a Danish botanist and pharmacist. He was son of the Danish-Norwegian botanist and zoologist Martin Vahl.Jens Vahl graduated as a pharmacist in 1819 and then started studying botany and chemistry....	1843	40	2341-2400
F. Liebmann Frederik Michael Liebmann Frederik Michael Liebmann was a Danish botanist. Liebmann studied botany at the University of Copenhagen, although he never obtained a formal qualification. He went on study tours of Germany and Norway before becoming lecturer at the Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College in 1837...	1845-1853	41-43 & Suppl. 1	2401-2580 & S1-60
Japetus Steenstrup Japetus Steenstrup Johannes Japetus Smith Steenstrup was a Danish zoologist, biologist, and professor.He was a professor of zoology at the University of Copenhagen...  and Johan Lange	1858	44	2581-2640
Johan Lange	1861-1883	45-51 & Suppl. 2-3	2641-3060 & S61-180

Dinner set

In 1790 the Danish Crown Prince Frederik

Frederick VI of Denmark

Frederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...

 ordered a dinner set made decorated with exact copies of the plates of Flora Danica. The dinner set was meant as a gift for Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Empress Catherine II

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

. Catherine, however, never received it, as she died in 1796. It is currently on display at Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Castle is a renaissance castle located in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects...

.

The dinner set is still in use for state occasions in the Christiansborg Palace

Christiansborg Palace

Christiansborg Palace, , on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, is the seat of the Folketing , the Danish Prime Minister's Office and the Danish Supreme Court...

 in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. Copies of the set are sold by the Royal Copenhagen

Royal Copenhagen

Royal Copenhagen, officially the Royal Porcelain Factory is a manufacturer of porcelain products and was founded in Copenhagen 1 May 1775 under the protection of Queen Juliane Marie...

Porcelain Manufactory.

External links

• Flora Danica. The Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory's page on the Flora Danica dinner set.
• Flora Danica Online. The complete Flora Danica scanned by the Danish National Library of Science and Medicine.