Immaculately painted and scientifically precise watercolors of native Louisiana plants are covering the halls of Hill Memorial Library.The plant portraits are part of the library’s latest exhibit, “A Beneficial Harvest,” which features the work of world-renowned botanical artist Margaret Stones.Pieces for the exhibition were chosen from Stones’ vast catalog of works for the University, which she began creating when she was commissioned for six watercolors in celebration of America’s bicentennial in 1976.Once people saw Stones’ first six works, they were such a hit that the project was extended and Stones continued to work on it for 20 years, said Elaine Smyth, head of special collections for LSU Libraries. Stones completed more than 200 works for the project, and Smyth said the entire collection is a jewel for the University.”I don’t think another state has a collection of works from someone as talented and really gifted with botanical art as Margaret Stones in existence,” Smyth said.Each of Stones’ works is scientifically accurate and created with a masterful hand, said exhibitions coordinator Leah Wood Jewett.The vast size of Hill Memorial’s collection of Stones’ work made it necessary to choose a specific theme of works to include in the exhibition, Jewett said. “A Beneficial Harvest” contains paintings of medicinal or edible plants native to Louisiana.Also included in the exhibition are several historical books from as far back as 1597 that include scientific research and illustrations of medicinal plants.”There are historical works from American botany and older works as well to put them in context and show this is a centuries-old practice of using plants for medicinal purposes,” Smyth said. “It’s really the basis of modern medicine.”One of the historical books Jewett said is most interesting to her is by Jacob Bigelow, a doctor who studied botany.”It’s one of the first books published in America in which prints were colored during the printing process and not colored in later,” she said.The various aspects of the paintings and historic publications make this exhibition appealing to various interests, Jewett said.”It appeals to people with an interest in art, scientific illustration, the history of medicine and the history of the printing process,” she said.Smyth said Stones’ collection of works was part of a long relationship the artist had with Louisiana and the University.”She would come [to Louisiana] a couple times a year, so she made a lot of friends, and I think she really helped people know more about and appreciate the native flora that we have here,” Smyth said.Stones, who will be 90 years old in August, made her final visit to Louisiana in 2004. She said goodbye to the collection then because the long trip to Louisiana from Stones’ native Australia had become too grueling to repeat, Smyth said.The entire collection of Stones’ work for the University has been digitized and is available in the  Louisiana Digital Library, but Jewett said nothing can substitute for seeing the paintings up close and in person.”A Beneficial Harvest,” which is free and open to the public, will be on display until Oct. 23 in Hill Memorial Library.–Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]