This is an in-person event only. There is no live stream.
(The talk will be followed by a book sale/signing and drinks reception in our historic library, where a paid bar will be available.)
In 1818, a curious root arrived in a small English town, tucked—seemingly by accident—in a packing case mailed from Brazil. The amateur botanist who cultivated it soon realized that he had something remarkable on his hands: an exceptionally rare orchid never before seen on British shores.
It arrived just as “orchid mania” was sweeping across Europe and North America, driving a vast plant trade that catered to wealthy private patrons as well as the fast-growing middle classes eager to display exotic flowers at home. Dubbed Cattleya labiata, the striking purple-and-crimson bloom quickly became one of the most coveted flowers on both continents.
But where, exactly, did it come from, and how did it arrive in the first place? Even the Victorians wondered; “it is extremely probably that we shall never hear the whole of the facts,” mourned a journalist, because “many of the links in the chain of evidence have been lost.”
In this talk, Sarah Bilston will discuss the mystery of the lost orchid, subject of her recent book – and how the Linnean’s archives offered crucial clues to its rediscovery.
Sarah Bilston is Professor and Chair of the Department of English Literature at Trinity College, Hartford (CT). She is the author of The Awkward Age in Women’s Popular Fiction, 1850–1900: Girls and the Transition to Womanhood (Oxford University Press, 2004); The Promise of the Suburbs: A Victorian History in Literature and Culture (Yale University Press, 2019); and two novels (with HarperCollins). Her new book on nineteenth-century plant-hunting, The Lost Orchid: A Story of Victorian Plunder and Obsession, was published by Harvard University Press in May 2025 and earned a Kirkus starred review.
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Concessions
Please buy the concession ticket if you are any of the below:
- 65 years of age, or over
- Under 26 years of age
- Currently in receipt of UK government benefit (including, but not limited to, Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit, and Universal Credit).
- Currently in full-time education.
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This is an in-person event at the Linnean Society of London on Piccadilly, London, only. There will be a recording, which will be uploaded to our YouTube channel later.
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