Story behind the art of Janene Walkky

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Cobra Lily with Insects

Darlingtonia californica, Hetaerina americana, Lucilia sericata, Cicindela bellissima, Lycaena mariposa

In the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon, hundreds of cobra lilies, or Darlingtonia californica, can be seen raising their cobra-shaped “heads” in wetland meadows, called fens. The cobra-like heads are leaves that form a hooded vertical tube. Sticky nectar lures insects into an opening in the hood. The hood is formed of veins with translucent webbing in between them. Once they are inside, the insects are confused by these translucent windows, which give them a false assurance of escape routes. An insect repeatedly rams against the windows, then tires and falls into the tube, where downward facing hairs prevent it from crawling out. The insect drowns in the small pool of water at the bottom of the tube, where it is digested, and becomes nutrients for the plant.

As if that isn’t odd enough, the shallow water of the cobra lily fen flows over an unusual type of rock with greenish, shimmering snake-like scales called serpentine. The thin soil over serpentine rock is poor in important plant nutrients, but rich in minerals like nickel and chromium that are toxic to most plants. Cobra lilies are one of the few plants that can tolerate these toxic minerals, so have little plant competition in their habitat. 

I was privileged to spend time in several cobra lily fens that I came across on mountain hikes and on the coast of Oregon. I was impressed with the bright red and orange color around their “throats,” which added to their attraction for insects. I included several insects that are endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains in my painting because I wanted to tell more of the story of cobra lilies and their habitat. All the insects in the painting would either pollinate or become food for cobra lilies.

The “windows” in the hood of the cobra lily leaves admit light that seems to bounce around inside the tube, so they glow like a field of lanterns in the late afternoon sun. It was my fascination with this quality of light that encouraged me to paint cobra lilies. But the light presented my biggest challenge. The shady part of the cobra head is where the interior glow is the strongest. How to depict both shadow and glowing light in the same part of the plant?

I decided to use Kelmscott vellum as my substrate for this watercolor painting because the pigments sit on the surface of the parchment and the overall effect is both glowing and organic. Kelmscott vellum is made in England by William Cowley Parchment Makers in the traditional entirely-by-hand method developed centuries ago. Vellum is much more durable than paper and the production of it is considered a heritage craft in the UK. The Magna Carta was written on vellum; thus, it has been preserved for posterity.

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Read more about this artist's work: Abundant Future