Story behind the art of Leanne Kershaw

27th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Emerging Kalmia

Kalmia latifolia, Pleopeltis polypodioides, Polytrichastrum formosum

While walking woodland trails, meadows, coastal regions, and other natural areas, I am often delighted by how plants create perfectly designed compositional landscapes in their various colors, shapes, and patterns in juxtaposition. Nature’s natural rhythms and forms have been my consistent muse for botanical art inspiration, and I strive to invoke a mood or a sense of story through my compositions.

Kalmia latifolia, or mountain laurel, native to North America and so common in our northeast woods, has long captured my attention with its gnarly branches and lovely, unique flowers. An evergreen shrub, K. latifolia ranges from southern Maine to Florida and well into the mid-western states. All parts of the plant are poisonous though it can be used for some medicinal purposes. Its flowers typically range from white to pink, though numerous cultivars produce blooms in a wide variety of pinks and reds. 

Mountain laurel has an amusing way of dispersing its pollen: As the flower develops, its stamens are bent in a tense arch with their anthers secured in small pouches within the corolla. When a pollinating insect lands on the flower its movement releases the stamens like springboards, causing their filaments to catapult their pollen onto the insect. The insect then flies off to carry pollen to another flower.

In this composition a few of the leaves are shown with a fungal leaf spot commonly seen on older Kalmia leaves. On close inspection I thought the spots were quite beautiful and I added them to the composition. Leaf spot does not generally cause damage to the plant.

The fern here is Pleopeltis polypodioides, which is an epiphyte, or air plant. Epiphytes do not feed on their host plants but rather obtain nutrients and water from the air and surface of their host. This fern is typically seen growing on tree limbs—both alive and decaying, and on rocks. The common name for P. polypodioides is resurrection fern, named for its ability to adapt to prolonged dry spells by turning brown and shriveling into itself, then turning green or “resurrecting” as soon as rain returns. The fern is nestled among Polytrichastrum formosum or haircap moss, which can be found throughout North America’s coniferous and temperate forests.

Though I know this composition is no match for Mother Nature, I hope it will inspire viewers to move a bit slower on their next walk so that they might witness the wondrous detail and beauty of nature’s artistic hand.

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