This work, first published in the year of Galileo’s trial (1633), contains the first use of microscopic illustration in a botanical work. Ferrari described many exotic plants, including limes, lemons and pomegranates, and citron, which he prescribed as medicinal plants against scurvy. Yet unlike the illustrated herbals, this work emphasizes horticultural rather medical applications. If direct observation would lead to the essential character of plants, then numerous illustrations capturing every variation and detail would be essential. Consider the varieties of the Chinese Rose, or Rosa Sinensis Foliosa. Ferrari printed engravings of “the leafy Chinese rose” (1.33), “the leafier Chinese rose,” and “the five-leafed Chinese rose” (1.34). Yet observation must descend into ever more minute details, for the seed pods of the Chinese rose each contain 163 seeds, divided into 6 compartments. A fourth plate depicting the Chinese rose is a microscopic examination of a detail of one of these seeds. This work is adorned by 45 copperplate engravings, including some created by the early female engraver Anna Maria Variana.