Story behind the art of Elaine Searle
Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores
The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial
Common Toothwort, Sibiu, Transylvania
Lathraea squamaria
On May 6, 2023, celebrations were underway for the coronation of HRH King Charles III. I was on a plane to Sibiu, Romania for a few days break before teaching a workshop for the Transylvania School of Botanic Art & Illustration in Copșa Mare, Romania.
During previous trips, I had got to know the talented botanist Mihaela A. Sava who works with the school and is responsible for building the school’s herbarium of over 300 plants in the Greater Târnava Valley where the school is situated. Each herbarium specimen sheet is being paired with its own illustration done by visiting and local artists. The specimens also have botanical descriptions provided by Mihaela.
On the Sunday morning after my arrival, accompanied by a workshop participant from Southern California, I was thrilled to be taken by Mihaela to plant hunt in a forest at the base of the Cindrel Mountains that are part of the Carpathians. We came across common toothwort. Although late in its flowering season, she eventually located and potted a specimen so that I could study, draw, and photograph it in my hotel room. It was kindly replanted by hotel staff on my departure.
Common toothwort is a native of the UK, temperate Europe, and central Asia. It is found in deciduous woods, hedges, and wetland edges, at the bases of trees and woody shrubs from which its roots suck nutrition. It is parasitic most often on hazel, elm, beech, and linden. When it is ready to flower in late spring, it emerges above the soil like a mushroom. Parts of the 10 - 20cm tall flowering spike are soft and hairy with long glandular hairs. I love to paint hairs - no white paint used. I just create them from negative space!
This plant gets its common name from its sepals, which form the outer calyx of the flower. They resemble molar teeth, especially when the flowers wilt. The flowers attract bumblebees and ants, but common toothwort is mostly self-pollinating, and sometimes does not need to flower above ground at all to persist. In mid-summer, the flower spike withers down, having dropped any ripe seeds onto the surrounding soil. It then withdraws its suckers, retreats, and rests for the autumn and winter.
I chose to depict the impossible viewpoint of below ground and above ground structures together to better explain the nature of the plant’s feeding process. The inclusion of beech mast and leaf litter identifies its host along with an emerging seedling to give a clue to the flowering season. I deliberately understated the tree bark to add depth and not to detract from the little clump of toothwort and its perennial rhizome.
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Read more about this artist's work:24th Annual