Clarissa Munger Badger (20 May 1806 – 14 December 1889)[1] was a mid 19th century American botanical illustrator best known for three volumes of flower paintings accompanied by poetry.

Milton Badger, pastor of the South Church in Andover, Massachusetts and later the associate secretary of the American Home Missionary Society, a job requiring him to spend time in the western United States.

This was a volume of poetry by William Cullen Bryant, Lydia Sigourney, Mary Howitt, and others illustrated with 13 of her flower paintings.

Like in the excerpt from “The Sweet Brier” poem: “...And often in the hallow’d spot, Where pale the mourner weeps, I breathe my fragrance o’er the grave Where youthful beauty sleeps.

Clarissa's third book, Floral Belles from the Green-House and Garden, was published in 1867 with 16 hand-colored lithographic plates typically showing two or three flowers in clusters or bouquets.

[6] The popularity of Badger's graceful, stylized paintings in her own day was "dwarfed by her male counterparts; only now is she being applauded as a fine botanical artist".

Extant works include a quilt with some panels featuring hand-painted flowers, and a silk scarf with roses painted at one end and morning glories at the other.