Wollemi Pine, Watercolor by Beverly Allen, Australia

Wollemia nobilis

Listings: Critically Endangered, IUCN Red List; Endangered, Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

The Plant’s Story:

The distribution of fossil remains indicates Wollemia nobilis was once widespread in Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica, but it was thought to have been extinct for about 2 million years. Its discovery in 1994 by David Noble, a ranger with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service in Australia, stunned the plant world. Found about 100 miles outside of Sydney in a deep narrow canyon in the rugged Wollemi National Park, its home is protected as Critical Habitat and is now off-limits to all but a few scientists and rangers. Wollemi National Park is part of the Greater Blue Mountains Area of Australia, a 2.5 million acre natural area known for its rare fauna and flora and included on the World Heritage list.

The Artist’s Story: Beverly Allen

The location of surviving trees in the wild is closely guarded, and access is extremely difficult and restricted to necessary scientific research. I contacted the Botanic Gardens Trust, which I knew had been involved in propagating the tree. Working with research scientists, I was given access to living plant materials at the Trust’s research facility at Mount Annan Botanic Garden. The graceful form of the leaves and branches and intricate pattern and detail have been a delight to paint.

More of the plant’s story and the artist’s story can be found in the exhibit catalog, available at the exhibition venues or online from the ASBA.

Longolongo, Gouache by Rita Parkinson, Australia

Cycas seemannii

Listing: CITES Appendix II

The Plant’s Story

Cycads are found throughout tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world and can thrive in harsh conditions, from high elevations, windy and cold paramo in South America to beach dunes and island limestone terraces, as with this Cyas seemanni, in the South Pacific islands. Of the 300 or so species found around the world, about half are considered at risk. In North America, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, maintains a large collection of cycads for research, exhibition, and conservation, linked with conservationists and institutions around the world.

The Artist’s Story: Rita Parkinson

Fiji has been a holiday destination for my family for more than 20 years. I saw the Cycas seemannii of my illustration in a coastal area near Sigatoka on Viti Levu Island. The flora is diverse and what interests me is that much of it has not been illustrated in detail before. I will first and foremost do detailed drawings, and make a photo essay that includes habitat, close ups, details and mid-views. Then, I will begin the process with many roughs using all these sources as reference.

More of the plant’s story and the artist’s story can be found in the exhibit catalog, available at the exhibition venues or online from the ASBA.

Magenta Lilly Pilly, Watercolor by Deirdre Bean, Australia

Syzygium paniculatum
Listing:Vulnerable, Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

The Plant's Story

Australia is home to about 60 species of Syzygium.  They are all valuable trees and shrubs in Australia's tropical and subtropical rainforests, partly because they are a major food source for nectar-feeding and fruit-eating animals.

According to the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service, in the wild, magenta lilly pilly "occupies a narrow, linear coastal distribution in specific, restricted habitat types that have been extensively cleared and/or modified." These areas of coastal thickets and rainforest of eastern Australia have been listed as a critically endangered ecological community.

Three Syzygium species are listed as Vulnerable in this endangered habitat. They all serve as food for the protected grey-headed flying fox (a fruit bat). This bat is critical for dispersing seed from its food sources, spreading progeny of the trees whose fruit it eats.

The Artist's Story: Deirdre Bean

Syzygium paniculatum is native to my local area, and I have a mature tree growing in full view of my front door. Our neighbors say it has been fully grown since they moved in approximately 50 years ago. I painted a series of eight Syzygiums for an exhibition before the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK.

More of the plant’s story and the artist’s story can be found in the exhibit catalog, available at the exhibition venues or online from the ASBA.