Ring Gentian, Pen and Ink by Bobbi Angell, US

Symbolanthus jasonii

Listing: Newly discovered, not yet listed. Using IUCN criteria it is critically endangered.

The Plant’s Story:

Symbolanthus jasonii, a member of the Gentian family, was collected for the first time during a recent expedition to the poorly-studied Cordillera del Condor on the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border. The plant is 10-feet tall sparsely distinct from other species in the region. This area of South America is dotted with neotropical montane microhabitats that are surrounded by large disturbed areas, so individual plant populations can be many miles apart. Many plants here are found in a very small area, so the odds of any given species being lost completely to habitat conversion is high.

The Artist’s Story: Bobbi Angell

I have drawn over 20 species and varieties of Symbolanthus, but most have been reconstructed from single pressed herbarium specimens. In contrast, the new species provided me with refreshingly complete material from which to prepare an illustration. I was able to dissect a pickled flower (a flower preserved in a liquid solution) to show the distinctive corona (the ‘ring’ that gives the genus its common name of Ring Gentian).

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.

Hawaii Tree Cotton, Pen and Ink by Lesley Randall, US

Kokia drynarioides

Listing: Endangered, Federal Endangered Species Act

The Plant’s Story

Kokia drynarioides is a beautiful tree with large red flowers, found only on the island of Hawaii. It is nearly extinct in the wild, formerly occurring in dry forests on lava fields in the North Kona District. Its population declined through the last century primarily due to cattle and goats browsing on the mature trees and grazing any seedlings that managed to sprout. Kokia seeds are eaten by roof rats that arrived in the 1800s with the ability to climb trees. By the 1980s introduced fountaingrass began to cover the formerly bare lava fields, inhibiting regeneration of the Kokia and other native plants and increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Hawaii has been severely affected by invasive aliens. The National Tropical Botanical Garden, the Hawaii Forest Industry Association, and the Nahelehele Dryland Forest Working Group have made progress in outplanting and fostering K. drynarioides at the Ka’upulehu Preserve in North Kona.

The Artist’s Story: Lesley Randall

The pen and ink technique I use is the traditional form for scientific botanical illustration. Pen and ink allows one to show very fine details that aid in describing a species or in identifying one. Accuracy is of prime importance, but I try to create a piece of beauty as well. I use both the stipple and cross-hatch styles for shading. Once I have completed my pencil sketches, I transfer the drawing to illustration board using tracing paper. First I draw all the outlines in ink, then detail each piece of the drawing.

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.

Pima Pineapple Cactus, Pen and Ink by Joan McGann, US

Coryphantha robustispina
Listings: Endangered, Federal Endangered Species Act; CITES Appendix II; Highly Safeguarded, Arizona

The Plant’s Story

The small range of this cactus (350 square miles) encompasses desert grasslands between 2300’ and 5000’ in Sonora, Mexico and in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties in Arizona. Even in these regions, they are very sparsely distributed. Urban development is the primary threat to this cactus. Since its listing as endangered in 1993, several residential and retail developments have been constructed where Pima pineapple cactus made its home. Residential and retail developments affect more land than the actual footprint of the homes and yards; drainage effects can be substantial. The increasing human presence causes ancillary effects such as hiking, biking, ATV use, and pet incursions as well as introduction of non-native plant species. The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson have been actively involved in the conservation of this species. ASDM has recently been engaged by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct the Pima pineapple cactus’s monitoring on an ongoing basis on lands set aside specifically for its habitat.

The Artist’s Story: Joan McGann

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and the Desert Museum Art Institute in Tucson are unique in that they are a botanical garden, a zoo, a natural history museum and research facility as well as a center for natural history art. Museum staff made their live collections of rare plant species available to me. I was allowed to sketch in the plant nursery and photograph the plant on several different occasions. They kept me apprised of the budding and blooming activity so that the flower could be studied, sketched and photographed.

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.

Pitcher’s Thistle, Pen and Ink by Derek Norman, US

Cirsium pitcheri
Listings: Threatened, Federal Endangered Species Act; Endangered, Canada (SARA)

The Plant’s Story

Pitcher’s thistle, Cirsium pitcheri, is one of many rare or declining species inhabiting dunes of the western Great lakes region. Fine wooly hairs on its stems and leaves are an adaptation to its beach environment so that it can retain water and reflect the sun. Many thistles are considered invasive. However, Pitcher’s thistle’s adaptation to its specific environment means it does not diverge from its favored locales. Pitcher’s thistle is vulnerable to habitat loss by shoreline development, dune stabilization projects, trampling by ATVs and foot traffic. Scientists have learned that isolated colonies of plants, like animals, can become increasingly genetically narrow in a process called genetic drift, further weakening their ability to remain robust and reproduce.

The Artist’s Story: Derek Norman

After spending approximately five years in search of a specimen, finally, with the help and assistance of Marlin Bowles, Plant Conservation Biologist, Morton Arboretum, and Dr. Tim Bell, Chicago State University, I was able to find a suitable plant. In the early summer of 2007 a highly detailed pencil drawing was completed over two sweltering, hot humid days in the company of biting flies, a colony of ants and the occasional attacking red-winged blackbird. I then began to render the drawing in ink, first establishing the outline, then slowly inking in and adding the detail with a “stipple” pen technique.

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.