[Iconography of the coca plant]

We can distinguish four periods in the iconography of the cocaplant, namely the prehispanic period in South-America, the early period in Europe, from 1749 until 1860, the period of confusion (1860-1906) and finally the period of modern iconography. The iconography of the cocaplant before the arrival of the Spanish invaders was limited to the drawing of cocaleaves. In Europe, the first people who showed any interest for the cocaplant were the botanists. In the second half of the XVIIIth century, the botanists made especially good drawings of Erythroxylum coca. From the second half of the XIXth century, the industry became interested in coca and, consequently, a very intensive research arose, coming from several directions. This led to the discovery of new species, at that time often described by non botanists. This resulted in discussions and in serious confusion as to the nomenclature. Excellent pictures were however produced in this period. During the XXth century fundamental botanical research resulted in the final classification of the different coca species. The quality of the pictures was however not better.