What is botanical art? What is botanical illustration? What’s the difference between the two? Here’s a quote from one of the experts that says it better than we could:

“What is the difference between botanical art and botanical illustration? In art, the finished painting is the whole object of the artist, and it has no further purpose than to be admired. The Illustration should have a generality that ignores the imperfections of the individual specimens, and so can represent the species or particular form of a species.”

Martyn Rix
Introduction to ‘The Golden Age of Botanical Art’ (p.8)

For more detailed descriptions, visit Botanical Art and Artists.