William Morris’s wallpapers exhibit timeless appeal, with their patterning of natural forms that were meant to reflect and encourage a good, moral society. Morris was at the forefront of the Arts & Crafts movement, which aimed to use decorative arts to create an artistic home as a sanctuary from industrial life. This William Morris wallpaper pattern certainly creates a domestic oasis, but it also has a secondary, documentary function: though once abundant throughout Europe, the snakeshead fritillary pictured is now an endangered species rarely found in the wild. While the industrialism to which Morris was so opposed has clearly prevailed in the fritillary’s case, his design immortalizes the flower in print.