Orchis graminifolia (Orchid)

The orchid (Orchis graminifolia, a terrestrial orchid species) is rendered here with the close botanical attention of a scientific specimen print transformed by Kitaoka's modernist hand. The narrow-leafed terrestrial orchid, with its delicate purple or pink flower spike, offers a more modest subject than the flamboyant cattleya, and Kitaoka's treatment matches the plant's character: careful, precise observation of a small, particular thing, the botanical specificity of the title contrasting with the broader subjects of his landscape work.