Jennifer Foster-Hamilton
Hibiscus meraukensis
Merauke hibiscus
2019, watercolour on paper
41 x 25 cm
Collected 1770: Bustard Bay, Palm Island, Cape Grafton, Endeavour River
Observed 2019: Far North Queensland
The artist has painted with great delicacy the ephemeral mass of white flowers, where one flower presents its attractive deep red centre. Painting white flowers on a conventional white background is always a great challenge for the botanical artist.
A small to medium annual shrub native to northern Australia, including northern islands, and New Guinea. Plants appear during the tropical wet season, and die off during the dry season that follows.
Lambertia formosa
mountain devil
2019, watercolour on paper
42.5 x 34 cm
Collected 1770: Botany Bay
Observed 2019: Katoomba
These stylised and stunning artworks depict the magnificent flowers of Lambertia formosa. Fluid transitions of colour and tone create a luminous aura.
The pink red flowerheads are made up of seven individual tubular flowers and are framed by red green bracts. The stiff narrow green leaves are silver backed, adding further drama and contrast.
The flowers hold profuse amounts of nectar – a traditional source of nourishment for Indigenous peoples. Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt wrote that “often when I’ve been tired and thirsty, I’ve bitten off the base of a tuft of Lambertia formosa flowers to suck the delightfully sweet honey out of them”.
Lambertia formosa was one of the earliest introductions of Australian plant species to cultivation in England in 1788.
Lambertia formosa seeds
mountain devil
2019, watercolour on paper
35 x 26.5 cm
Collected 1770: Botany Bay
Observed 2019: Katoomba
These stylised and stunning artworks depict the magnificent flowers of Lambertia formosa. Fluid transitions of colour and tone create a luminous aura.
The pink red flowerheads are made up of seven individual tubular flowers and are framed by red green bracts. The stiff narrow green leaves are silver backed, adding further drama and contrast.
The flowers hold profuse amounts of nectar – a traditional source of nourishment for Indigenous peoples. Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt wrote that “often when I’ve been tired and thirsty, I’ve bitten off the base of a tuft of Lambertia formosa flowers to suck the delightfully sweet honey out of them”.
Lambertia formosa was one of the earliest introductions of Australian plant species to cultivation in England in 1788.
© 2020 Botanical Artists’ Society Queensland