Atamasco Lily, Gouache & Colored Pencil by Julie Martinez, US

Zephyranthes atamasca

Listings: Endangered, Maryland; Threatened, Florida

The Plant’s Story

Atamasco lily was one of the first North American flowers encountered by the colonists of Jamestown. At the edges of its historic range, it is at risk, although in some states it is quite common. Atamasco lilies enjoy a habitat of moisture-prone regions bordering wetlands, the edges of flat forestlands, and moist meadows. All parts of the plant are poisonous. Bulbs in the amaryllis family, as this lily was originally described by Linnaeus in 1753, contain chemical compounds being studied for their promising anti-cancer properties.

The Artist’s Story: Julie Martinez

During the winter, my husband and I live in the midst of the Ocala National Forest in central Florida. One morning I noticed occasional clumps of delicate white flowers along the roadside. After identifying them in our guidebooks, I learned they were a threatened species in Florida. I wanted to capture them in a painting and immediately started working on not only painting the flower but all aspects of the plant including the bulb, bud, pollen, seedpod and seeds.

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.

Fuzzywuzzy Airplant, Colored Pencil by Karen Coleman, US

Tillandsia pruinosa

Listing: Endangered, Preservation of Native Flora of Florida Act

The Plant’s Story

This member of the pineapple family lives attached to branches of trees in hardwood swamps and cypress forests. Tillandsia pruinosa’s tentacle-like leaves emerge from a swollen, bulbous base and are covered with dense, silvery hairs; thus its common name, fuzzywuzzy airplant. In the United States, its range is limited to Lee and Collier Counties in Big Cypress National Preserve and nearby areas. The “river of grass” of the southeastern Everglades gradually gives way to rising elevations, which support the cypress swamps, hammocks, mangroves, and prairie habitats of Big Cypress. Nourishing a variety of unique plant and animal life, the diminutive Tillandsia pruinosa’s existence depends on the continued protection of these special areas. In spite of the great size of the preserve, non-native species penetrate its deepest coves. Its most recent intruder is a Mexican weevil whose larvae tunnel through the base of bromeliads decimating bromeliad populations.

The Artist’s Story: Karen Coleman

In January 2006, my husband and I joined a group from the Audubon Naturalist Society on a nature trip to the Florida Everglades. I was intrigued by the name and description of the fuzzwuzzy airplant. I fell in love with the fuzzywuzzy. I made a quick sketch and took lots of photos in order to do a finished work when I returned home. I completed the piece in colored pencil in 2008.

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.

Santa Cruz Cypress, Watercolor & Colored Pencil by Maria Cecilia Freeman, US

Cupressus abramsiana
Listings: Endangered, Federal Endangered Species Act; Endangered, California

The Plant’s Story

The endangered Santa Cruz Cypress, Cupressus abramsiana, is found only in the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains of central California, where it grows in gravelly, sandy soils above the fog belt, with chaparral and other evergreen species. This tree, once abundant, succumbed over the years to vineyard and home development, and road building. Only five populations totaling a few thousand individuals remain, all within a 15-mile stretch of the coast. It was Federally listed in 1987. It is still threatened by competition with non-native plants such as pampas grass and French broom, insect infestation and hybridization with other cypress species.

The Artist’s Story: Maria Cecilia Freeman

I live ten minutes from two of the remaining populations of Cupressus abramsiana. When I set out to study the cypress, I contacted our local chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Its Conservation Committee Chair and Coordinator of Research at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum helped me distinguish this cypress from other more common species, showed me specimen plants at the Arboretum, and allowed me to take home cuttings with cones to study and draw in detail. I visited the trees repeatedly to study their branching habit, bark, leaves and cones as the seasons changed.

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.