This mid-19th century illustration of the Cannabis plant was created by accomplished German engraver Jacob Sturm for his massive 136 volume work "Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen nach der Natur" (Germany's Flora in Illustrations from Nature). Sturm labeled the plant as "Hanf (hemp), Cannabis generalis", indicating that it was a widespread and well-known plant in 1840s Germany.
Despite the impressive detail, the original piece was engraved on copperplate only 3.5x5 inches in size. This made printing Sturm's images much more economical than larger illustrations and meant his work could be distributed more widely than many of his contemporaries.
