Medicinal plants of Montserrat – Illustrations vs Reality

As a result of having illustrated 30 medicinal plants of Montserrat for a booklet produced by Montserrat National Trust and the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, I got to travel to the Caribbean and teach botanical illustration there for a week.  It truly was Working in paradise.

Drawing plants you’ve never seen

I am often asked to illustrate species which I have never seen in the flesh.  It’s harder than drawing from life, but with photo and online reference it is possible.  For more on this see my blog on working from photo reference).

Many of the plants illustrated for the booklet were new to me, or fruits that I had never seen growing in situ.  One of the things I was keen to do whilst on the island was to find as many of these plants as I could, and compare them to my illustrations.  It’s nerve wracking, but important.  If there are big discrepancies then the illustrations need to be done again and improved.

Fruit trees: Soursop Annona muricata

It didn’t take long to recognize some of the plants I’d illustrated.  On a guided nature hike, I was shown the soursop fruit.

Soursop fruit

I recognized it from my illustration, which is always a good sign.  Having struggled with the pattern of the spines on the fruit’s skin, it was a relief to see that the geometry was similar to my illustration.  I couldn’t reach the fruit, but was glad when our guide told me that yes, the flesh was indeed a creamy white colour.

Detail: Fruit of the Soursop

The tree wasn’t in flower, so I have to hope that the photos I amassed and worked from were accurate.

Soursop leaves are gratifyingly similar to those I’d illustrated, and to many other leaves from the list.  Smooth, glossy, dark green with simple margins.

Soursop

Fruit trees: Guava Psidium guajava

I found my Guava tree in Elvis Gerald’s garden (click here for more on this extraordinary Caribbean garden).  I have seen and eaten guava before, but never noticed the tree it grows on.

Guava growing in Elvis’s garden

The fruit is the same colours as my illustration, if a touch rounder.  I didn’t cut open the fruit to see if the flesh is the same pink colour I showed, that would have been rude.

The distinctive lateral veins on the leaves are clear.  I intentionally toned them down a little when I added colour to my painting, I now wish I’d kept them starker.

My illustration of Guava

The blossom is a bit less convincing.  Although the basic colour and shape is right, in reality there are a lot more stamens than I included in my illustration.  The flower is passable, but not a good representation.

Guava flower

Trees: Trumpet bush Cecropia peltata

Another plant we were shown by our natural history guide was the Trumpet bush.  The leaves are the right shape, and the way they grow from the trunk feels right too.

Trumpet bush on the Dry Waterfall trail

What amazes me is the sheer size of each leaf.  They are enormous!  Luckily the scale doesn’t matter in my illustrations, but I am sure I have drawn them too small.

My illustration of the Trumpet bush

The other surprise is how very white the underside of each leaf is.  Yes, I illustrated the leaves as pale below.  But if I were to repeat the illustration I would make them closer to white than to pale green.

Underside of Trumpet bush leaf

Pung Coolie Momordica charantia

In the car park near our trail head, our guide Loydie pointed out the Pung coolie, growing in the grass.

This plant surprised me by being far smaller than I’d imagined.

The tendrils and pale yellow petals are the same, but I’d envisioned it as having flowers the size of courgette flowers, not these far smaller blossoms, only a few cm across.

Pung coolie or Bitter melon

It looks very similar to my illustration, irrelevant of size.  Saying that, the specimen I saw wasn’t bearing fruit, so I can only hope these are depicted correctly.

My illustration of Pung coolie

Blue vervain or porterweed Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

Driving back from the walk, I spied some spindly blue flowers.  I was really pleased to see them, all along the roadside verges were lots of Blue porterweed plants.

Photo of Blue porterweed

Flowers fell from the spikes almost as soon as I picked them, but they stayed long enough for me to realise the shapes I’d drawn were correct, even if the shade of blue I used was not quite purple enough.  I think my leaves should have been a touch smaller and a little shinier.

My illustration of Blue vervain

Aloe vera

This plant grows everywhere in Montserrat, along road sides, and more prolifically where it’s a bit drier.

I know the illustration is more or less ok because I have an Aloe vera in a pot here at home.  However, it’s good to see that the shade of green is pretty well matched to the wild plant.  As I didn’t see one in flower, I have to keep my fingers crossed that the inflorescence is correct.

My Aloe vera

Love vine

Driving up Jack Boy Hill, about a mile up the road, suddenly everything seems to be strewn with orange tangles of thread.

Love vine on an Acacia

I’m afraid I shouted out in joy when I realised I was driving past thick nests of Love vine.  This was particularly satisfying as I’d struggled to understand the nature of the plant and the colour scheme when illustrating it.

My illustration of Love vine

Seeing it grow, I realise it grows like Dodder Cuscata in the UK.  And looking closely, the colours on individual tendrils do indeed fade from light green through yellow to a rich orange.  This plant was my happiest comparison.

Resurrection fern Pleopeltis or Polypodium polypodioides

The last plant I saw growing that I remembered to take a photo of was the Resurrection fern.

This was on trees and tree trunks in the Mezoic wet forest areas.  The sori do indeed leave prominent marginal bumps on the leaves, and the central stem is almost as hairy as I showed it (but less purple).

Photo of Resurrection fern

What I got wrong is that on the plants I saw growing, very few had mature sori pointing upward.  This could have been chance, or perhaps it’s the way the plant grows.  I think the leaves I illustrated could have been a richer and shinier green.  Saying that, the plant is recognisable and that’s the acid test.

My illustration of the fern

Other plants I saw…and failed to photograph

Unfortunately, I failed to take photos of the Sensitive plant Mimosa pudica, West Indian Bay leaf Pimenta racemosa, or Lemongrass.  I ate leaves of the latter two in Elvis’s garden, so it’s not as if I didn’t have the chance to examine the plant where it grew.

Mimosa

My biggest regret is not taking photos of the very beautiful Bush tea or Quickstick Gliricidia sepium tree.  These were in full bloom, dotting the wooded hillside with delicate pink tree crowns.  I picked some of the flowers, and even had them in a jar on the table.  But I failed to draw them from life or to photograph them.

Bush tea tree

Ah well, I’ll just have to go back next year….

Conclusion

On the whole, I’m pleased with how closely my illustrations tally with the plants I saw growing in the wild in Montserrat.  Inevitably there’s some discrepancy of scale.  Luckily this doesn’t matter in drawings.  Colours are occasionally slightly different.  I didn’t get to see every plant I’ve illustrated, nor see every life stage of each plant.

What I really love is being able to touch the growing plants, rotate them, smell their leaves and flowers.  Yes, I can work from photographs and picture reference.  But the experience is much more exciting and far easier if you’re able to hold the plant in your hand as you paint.