Greater Everglades Conservation Atlas

"In the Mangroves," Daniel smith watercolors on Arches hot-press watercolor paper.
(Click to view larger)

The painting

You may recall a post I made last January about a project I was thrilled to be a part of, the Greater Everglades Conservation Atlas.  Well, my part is now complete!  The watercolor painting I created (above) was inspired by the poetry of the mangrove trees' intertwining roots at Rookery bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. 

Red mangrove seedling (click to view larger)

The trees

I love these trees for many reasons.  From an artistic standpoint, their roots create fascinating positive and negative shapes.  Red mangroves have trunks colored in lovely burnt sienna to a rich burnt umber.  The leaf patterns of mangroves are also beautiful to me, especially the star-shaped whorls of the red mangrove. 

Through the science lens, they are subtropical oddities.  Black mangroves have dark root fingers that poke out of the soil in a bizarre quest for more oxygen.  Red mangroves put out prop roots in arches that weave an almost impenetrable barrier.  Mangroves are also viviparous; they create live young rather than dormant seeds.  Common sights in Southwest Florida are the cigar-shaped propagules of the red mangrove bobbing along in the Gulf or a backwater bay, looking for a foothold in an oyster bed or a mudflat. 

The project

Ten artists throughout the state of Florida were chosen to create artwork for the Atlas, which was conceived by Carlton Ward, founder of the Legacy Institute for Nature & Culture (LINC), which has become The Florida Wildlife Corridor.  The project was generously funded by the Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Blue Water Project and partners with National Geographic’s “GeoStories,” which features an online interactive map of the world. 

The Everglades Atlas features ten works of original, place-based art, created in various locations throughout Florida, that reflect each artist’s unique viewpoint and connection to a location in nature within the Everglades watershed.  For the project, I painted an original watercolor titled “In the Mangroves,” to illustrate my connection to these trees and to the estuary system at Rookery Bay.  

Updated links:
The Greater Everglades Atlas interactive map can be accessed online at Conservation Art for the Everglades .  Scroll down and click around on the map to get an idea of the wonders found in the Greater Everglades seen through an artist's eyes!    

Detail of "In the Mangroves"

Quick links:

Stand-alone YouTube video of my interview, created by Joe Davenport of Manship Films

RBC Blue Water Project

National Geographic's GeoStories home page

NOTE: links have been updated to reflect LINC's online transformation to The Florida Wildlife Corridor.  Please take time to explore and support their many science-based projects as they actively conserve, educate, and tell the stories that inspire us to protect and conserve our fragile natural Florida.

Sky-blue lupine

My nature journal entry (click to view larger)

I had a chance Saturday to visit some scrub areas at Rookery Bay, and sketch the subtle beauty of the sky blue-lupine, which is blooming now.  Sky-blue lupine (Lupinus diffusus) is well named – the pea-like flowers are a delicate blue and white that echoes the atmospheric colors overhead. 

Amazingly, these native wildflowers grow in one of our harshest habitats in Florida – scrub.  The soil is almost pure sand, a “concealed desert” as described by Dr. W. H. Simmons in 1822.  Imagine surviving in the intensity of a full Florida sun, the light and heat enhanced by reflective white sand that drains quickly after a rain.  Yet these lovely wildflowers are thriving, and new seedlings are emerging.

I chose a small plant to draw as lupines are quite complex!

Sky-blue lupines are on the endangered species list and protected by law.  Their beauty made them irresistible to past collectors; however, they do not like to have their roots disturbed and don’t survive transplanting.  The seeds require specialized soil, and take a long time to germinate.  The sandy scrub they call home was rapidly developed in the past because of its desirable higher elevations.  These factors make for a rarely seen wildflower. 

Larger sky blue lupines,
growing  right out of the scrub's sugar sand.

A member of the bean or pea family, Fabaceae, sky-blue lupine fixes nitrogen in the soil, which is typical of many legumes.  The alternate leaves, stems, and seedpods are covered in very fine silvery-white hairs.  

The genus name of Lupinus derives from the Latin word for wolf, "lupus.".  Explanations I’ve read include the idea that the lupines wolfishly devoured the nutrients from the soil so other plants could not grow; another story is that they grow alone, like the lone wolf.  The species name of diffusus is also Latin, meaning "spread out or wide."

Sky-blue lupine ranges throughout Florida and as far north as North Carolina, and west to Mississippi. I sketched these in pencil first, then drew in black ink, adding watercolor and a touch of watercolor pencil.  Thanks to my companions, Jeanette and Cyril, for an enjoyable morning!

Details: Mechanical pencil, .7 mm (generic)

Pitt artist's pen in black, XS size for drawing, S size for writing

Daniel Smith watercolors and Niji aquabrushes

Kimberly watercolor pencils

Pentalic Nature sketch sketchbook

Web resources and more photos of sky blue lupine:

• Photos and growing conditions:
   Hawthorn Hill’s blog on native Florida wildflowers
• General information and some wonderful close-ups of the individual flower: 
  Dan Tenaglia’s website on Alabama Plants

Bracken fern

(Click on the image to view larger)

I have a fondness for ferns; they grow in secret spaces, in unexpected places.  This is a partial piece of a bracken fern that I sketched with my Pitt pen (S size) in a sketchbook I received for Christmas.  I don’t know what kind of paper it is – but it’s silky smooth and takes pen marks well.  I added some light watercolor washes to show the varied browns of the dried frond. 

Ferns are fascinating in themselves, especially their reproductive cycle.  They are also a visual treat: lacy, intricate, unfurling in a spiral pattern.  Although not a true fractal because they are finite, the repetitive pattern of ferns is a good example of natural fractal patterns.  

Fractals are patterns where the parts are the same or similar to the whole.  For instance, in my drawing you can see that the pattern of the tip repeats in the branching leaflets.  The whole frond resembles the leaflets, as you can see in this photo from the University of Florida. Needless to say, this makes drawing a fern a bit mind-bending. 

Bracken ferns like to grow in open spaces; I sometimes see them on roadside and woodland edges.  Bracken fern is common, occurring throughout the world.  It has been used by humans for multiple purposes, including food.  The fiddleheads (unfurled baby fronds) are eaten regularly in Asian cultures. 

Although bracken fern contains a carcinogen that often causes cancers in livestock, cooking and/or soaking the fiddleheads in water reduces the risk to humans.  A caveat:  the carcinogen, ptalquiloside, varies with fern populations.  Always research thoroughly and know exactly what you are eating and how to safely prepare it; older ferns should be avoided entirely. 

Other past human uses for bracken fern include: fibers for basket weaving, starch from the rhizomes for flour, medicinal teas and decoctions for ailments such as chest complaints, headaches, and burns.  It was also used for thatch and kindling, livestock bedding, and for dyeing cloth and fibers. Despite a tendency to become invasive, bracken fern is not only a beautiful plant, but a useful one as well.

 

Everglades Conservation Atlas

Last Saturday I went for a walk on the Conservancy’s Brigg’s boardwalk at Rookery Bay.  I made a new friend there, Joe Davenport of Manship Films.  He interviewed me for a project called the Greater Everglades Conservation Atlas, which will allow online visitors to explore the greater Everglades of Florida in a virtual format. 

The project was conceived and created by the Legacy Institute for Nature and Culture (LINC), and I feel quite honored to be a part of it.  Ten artists are creating artwork in different spots throughout Florida: my area is the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Reserve.

Saturday was an overcast and cold day.  There were cool breezes that lingered with a kind of softness that hinted at moisture in the air.  The sun was visible here and there through the tattered blanket of clouds – reflecting the kind of light that mutes colors but also makes them a bit luminous.  We heard songbirds, but only saw a few.  In the distance across the lake were great egrets, and perhaps some ibis, flocking in to the shoreline around noon. 

The path to the pavilion winds through pines and palmettos...and poison ivy!

The boardwalk winds through several habitats: scrub, hammock, wetlands, and pine flatwoods.  At a raised open pavilion I made a small watercolor sketch of the surrounding slash pines and palmettos.  Above me was a gnarled old pine silhouetted against the grey skies.  Later we walked through mangrove and buttonwood stands, and I sketched some of the leaves and branches I saw along the boardwalk. 

(You can click on the image to view it larger)

I’m not sure what my subject will be yet for the Atlas, there are so many possibilities and I want to do them all!  Alas, like most projects, there are deadlines.  Limitations are good, though, because they keep us moving and open us to creative solutions.

Another facet of the Everglades Conservation Atlas is the Florida Wildlife CorridorExpedition, which started today (January 17th)!  Starting at the southern tip of peninsular Florida, a team will hike, bike, and paddle 1,000 miles along the Florida Wildlife Corridor, ending 100 days later in northern Florida.  You can see their route here;  you can also click here to follow their progress on Facebook.

I wish them all the best!

Shining sumac

Shining sumac, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Rhus copallina

This is one of my favorite woodland shrubs. I usually see shining sumac on the edges of habitats, in the ecotone or transition zone.  Shining sumac is also called winged sumac or red sumac. You may not be able to tell from my quick sketch, but there are little “wings” along the leaf stem (rachis).  This one has very small wings, but in some  specimens they are more pronounced. Shining sumac has pinnately compound leaves that alternately spiral along the main stem. The individual leaves (or leaflets) are about 2 to 3 inches in length, but you can see that they're variable in size. This sumac caught my eye because of the gorgeous colors.

Shining sumac has quite a range in the eastern United States, throughout Florida and as far north as the south of Maine. In the south it reaches into Texas.  Although the berries are favorites of many birds, this specimen had none to show. It's situated along a trail, so it may have been trimmed back while in flower or fruit. In the past, the fruits have been used by humans to make a cooling, tart lemonade-like beverage, and as a dye. The roots are reported to have been used to treat dysentery.

Sumac is deciduous, so next time I visit this trail the leaves may have dropped.  Another species of Rhus is poisonous, aptly named poison sumac. The leaves, stems, and roots contain the same irritating allergen as poison ivy, urushiol.  Luckily, this species grows a bit further north of southwest Florida in damp or wet locations, while shining sumac prefers drier conditions. This is good news for me, since I seem to attract poison ivy just by setting foot outside my car! Sumac belongs to the Cashew family, Anacardiaceae.

The genus name Rhus is thought to come from the old French, meaning red, or from the Greek reo, meaning “to flow,” thought to refer to its spreading habit. Another source claims that Rhus is a derivation of rhous, an ancient Greek name for sumac. I found only one source that states that copallina means gummy or resinous, but doesn’t list the language or country of origin. I believe that the common name of shining sumac refers to the shiny leaves of this species. The leaves I sketched were somewhat shiny, depending on the age of the leaf. The new leaves were glossy in spite of the recent cold snap, a beautiful light red with almost a bronzy overtone.

I spotted this shining sumac along the trail at Rookery Bay that leads to the Conservancy’s boardwalk. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my sketch and reading a bit more about this common but often overlooked native shrub or small tree.

Ibis at Rookery Bay

White ibis along the Conservancy boardwalk at Rookery Bay

All adventures start with that one first step!

A Happy New Year to all my online friends!
happy painting and sketching,

~ Elizabeth

Things from an estuary

Things from a Florida estuary: driftwood, nicker bean pod, cat's claw seedpods,
 oyster shells, buttonwood leaves and "buttons," and a rattle-box seedpod. 

Today was National Estuary Day!  I find estuary systems fascinating; they are the sheltered nutrient-rich birthplace and nursery environment for many species of life.  Estuary ecosystems occur when fresh and salt water meet and mingle, the best of both worlds.

I painted this last year after a visit to Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve just south of Naples, and thought it would be appropriate to share today.  These were just some of the small treasures I observed as I explored the trails through the mangroves around the bay.  

 To read more about National Estuary Day and the importance of our estuaries, please visit NOAA's website on estuaries.