Historical Botanical Coloring Collection: 10 Free Printables

Ten free coloring sheets inspired by eighteenth-century botanical plates. Explore dandelion, lavender, fruiting branches and more, then choose a US Letter or A4 PDF. Each sheet has a historical source and a printable line drawing.

Creation disclosure: These are new, AI-assisted, code-authored vector interpretations after Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal. They are not her original engravings, hand-drawn CBA artwork or exact botanical reproductions. No generative raster images or archive scans are used in the downloads.

This small pilot ranges from simple fruit and broad leaves to finer flower and foliage details. Choose a page that suits the space you like to color.

Download all 10 sheets — US Letter Download all 10 sheets — A4

Choose a botanical coloring sheet

1. Dandelion

A rosette of toothed leaves, open flower heads and a seed head. The historical title is Dens Leonis.

Dandelion coloring page with toothed leaves, flowers and a seed head

Download Dandelion — Letter Download Dandelion — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 1. View the historical dandelion plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

2. Mayweed

Fine branching foliage and daisy-like flower heads. The source calls this May-Weed or Faetid Camomile; it is not a culinary chamomile guide.

Mayweed coloring page with branching foliage and daisy-like flowers

Download Mayweed — Letter Download Mayweed — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 67. View the historical mayweed plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

3. Acanthus

Broad lobed leaves and a tall flowering spike, adapted from the Bears Breech plate.

Acanthus coloring page with broad lobed leaves and a flowering spike

Download Acanthus — Letter Download Acanthus — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 89. View the historical acanthus plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

4. Peach

Long narrow leaves, rounded fruit and a separate blossom study, based on the Peach Tree plate.

Peach coloring page with fruit, narrow leaves and a blossom study

Download Peach — Letter Download Peach — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 101. View the historical peach plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

5. Fig

Deeply lobed leaves and hanging figs, with a separate cut-fruit study.

Fig coloring page with lobed leaves, hanging figs and a cut-fruit study

Download Fig — Letter Download Fig — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 125. View the historical fig plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

6. Quince

Broad leaves and irregular rounded fruit, with a small blossom study, based on the Quinces plate.

Quince coloring page with broad leaves, fruit and a blossom study

Download Quince — Letter Download Quince — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 137. View the historical quince plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

7. Tobacco

Large leaves and tubular, star-ended flowers. Included as historical botanical art, with no endorsement of tobacco use.

Historical tobacco coloring page with large leaves and tubular flowers

Download Tobacco — Letter Download Tobacco — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 146. View the historical tobacco plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

8. Grapevine

Lobed leaves, curling tendrils and a hanging fruit cluster, based on The Vine plate.

Grapevine coloring page with lobed leaves, tendrils and a grape cluster

Download Grapevine — Letter Download Grapevine — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 153. View the historical grapevine plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

9. Sassafras

A branching stem with several leaf forms, including the distinctive mitten-shaped outline seen in the source.

Sassafras coloring page with several leaf shapes on a branching stem

Download Sassafras — Letter Download Sassafras — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 267. View the historical sassafras plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

10. Lavender

Slender stems, narrow leaves and compact flowering spikes, based on the Lavendula plate.

Lavender coloring page with narrow leaves, flower spikes and roots

Download Lavender — Letter Download Lavender — A4

After Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, plate 294. View the historical lavender plate at USDA NAL. Catalogue date range: 1737–1771. Source reviewed October 13, 2026.

From a historical herbal to a coloring page

Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal was published in 1737–1739. Its drawings, engravings and coloring are attributed to her in the Biodiversity Heritage Library catalogue, which identifies the work as public domain. The individual source plates linked above are held online by the USDA National Agricultural Library; its catalogue uses a broader 1737–1771 date range. These dates describe different catalogue records, not a new publication date for our adaptations.

We used the plates to study recognizable leaf, stem, flower and fruit forms, then composed simplified vector designs with open spaces for coloring. Fine engraved shading, historical lettering and many scientific detail studies were left out. The sheets are creative interpretations and should not be used to identify plants or follow historical medical advice.

Printing these sheets

Choose Letter for 8.5 × 11-inch paper or A4 for 210 × 297 mm paper.
Open the downloaded PDF in your preferred PDF viewer. Use “Fit” if your printer requires wider margins.
Print one sheet as a test before the full pack. Use thicker paper suitable for your printer if you plan to use markers.
The files contain black vector outlines on white paper. All ten sheets have at least a half-inch design margin on Letter; the A4 versions use the same artwork scaled to fit.

For paper choices and marker bleed-through, see our coloring page printing guide. Explore the nature collection for fuller scenes, or the Human-Drawn Printable Directory for externally sourced artist downloads.

Usage and source rights

You may print these new CBA adaptations for personal, non-commercial use and non-commercial classroom activities. Please link to this collection instead of redistributing our files. This permission does not restrict the historical public-domain originals, which you can access independently through the source collections. USDA hosting alone is not the basis of our public-domain assessment.

Help shape the next collection

This is a ten-sheet pilot. After trying a page, send us feedback with “Historical Botanical Pilot” in the subject. Tell us which plant you colored, whether the line detail felt too simple or too crowded, your paper size and any printing problem. A photo of your finished page is optional.

Feedback is used to review this pilot. Sending a photo does not grant permission to publish it; we would ask separately before featuring it.

Collection published October 13, 2026. Downloads are free; no purchase or email signup is required. No affiliate links appear in this collection.