STORY BEHIND THE ART OF LEAH KAIZER
18th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York
Mathiasella II
Mathiasella bupleuroides
Mathiasella bupleuroides, a rare Umbelliferae, has been a treasured flowering plant in my garden for many years. It looks like a hellebore or euphorbia but it is actually in the carrot family! It gives me such pleasure to behold this plant’s growth — from a very small specimen to a fairly gigantic and sometimes overgrown character in my yard. Each year I await its arrival and each year it forms a different shape and challenge. With heavy winds or rain or just with its own weight, the stalks droop. When I attempt to stake it upward, I invariably break off several large stems. It is a challenging plant – but so beautiful and amazing in its structure, bloom and character that it is worth every effort.
I was first introduced to Mathiasella at a school garden fundraiser near where I live in Berkeley, California. I purchased a small specimen (in a 6” pot) there from a former UC Berkeley Botanical Garden staff member who had been propagating the plant with some success. It took a few years and several relocations in my garden before the plant successfully flourished in the spot where it now resides. Since then, friends who visit my garden invariably ask, “What is this plant?” and want to know more about it.
Mathiasella is a clumping herbaceous perennial that was originally collected along the slopes and summit of the Pena Nevada in Tamaulipas, Mexico. It was first published in the American Journal of Botany by Lincoln Constance (a UC Berkeley botanist) and C. Leo Hitchcock in 1954, and was named to honor Mildred E. Mathias, the “grand dame” of botany, then Director of the UCLA Botanical Garden. The plant now thrives at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden and is one of the grounds supervisor’s favorite plants. My challenges and good fortune in propagating Mathiasella turn out to be similar to the experience of gardeners at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden — only about three out of 10 cuttings grow into thriving small plants. This year I am experimenting with seed collection and planting … we’ll see.
I have always imagined painting this beautiful plant. Capturing the different stages of the bud to full bloom was a compositional dilemma, and the blossoms and colors of its green stems and leaves change so quickly. I eventually chose to paint two companion pieces, each on 12” x 16” manuscript vellum, which is such a pleasure to work on with watercolors.
In its fascinating early growth cycle, the Mathiasella bud morphs into an umbrella like form as the multiple flower parts are slowly exposed underneath the bracts. In my first Mathiasella painting, I chose to present this bud and the early growth phase of the blossom. My second painting, which is included in this 18th Annual ASBA/HSNY Exhibition, “Mathiasella II,” presents the full blooming flower with its rosy edges against a full leaf set. Both paintings demonstrate how the Mathiasella is a study in greens: deep green, silvery green, bluish green, yellow green and fresh chartreuse. It is no accident that its cultivar was named “Green Dream,” and, fortunately, I love greens!
A note about Mildred E. Mathias: An expert on the carrot family (Umbelliferae or Apiaceae) and plant taxonomy, she was one of the founders of the UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS), a network of protected natural areas throughout California. The UCNRS includes more than 756,000 acres in 39 sites and is the largest university-administered natural reserve system in the world.
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Read more about this artist's work: 15th Annual International