On a walk exactly four years after moving into our Norwegian home.
The above walk was with my children and husband. We went a little further south along the coast from where we live. It was on the edge of a beech wood, very cold and plenty of snow. However, the temperatures were not as low as the day we moved into our new home. On that day, it was minus 15 degrees Celsius!
I have had botanical art students from just as cold climates. They have asked what they should paint when there isn’t too much growing. For my course, I always suggested they might buy indoor plants to complete the course. Once they had finished the course, they could choose their favourite subjects.
A fair amount is still available in the countryside. This can be seen in the picture above, showing the edge of a Beech forest. My garden also contains rose-hips, beech, oak, Rowan, pine, hazel, all of which is accessible above the snow. It also has a lot of wild-life.
Bramling – Fringilla montifringilla – Bjørkefink in a Beech tree.
Single female Roe deer – probably first winter alone.
Many years ago, during my first 25 years in Norway, I focused on painting birds. At that time, I relied on photos taken with my SLR attached to my telescope. For additional detail I used skins from the museum. Since then, the equipment available to me has changed. It is more affordable now. I can get much better photographs from my trusty little camera than I did from my film reliant SLR.
Gradually we have moved the bird feeders nearer to the house. This allows me to get quite good photos. Feeding the birds in the garden also provides a plentiful supply of nuts and seeds generally. This attracts other animals during the winter when the supply of food is short. Deer are also welcome visitors and mop up after the birds. But we do have to try and protect our fruit trees a little!!
So what do I paint? I decided to combine my love of painting birds, with my love of botanical art?
Many of the bird species move from the mountains to lower lands searching for food during the winter. This includes the Bramling, Yellowhammer, Siskin, Bullfinch and Hawfinch. At the beginning of the winter, their colours can be a little drabber. As spring approaches, they get new plumage. and become very colourful.
Now I spend quite a bit of time photographing these beautiful birds from the comfort of my own lounge. The two pictures above are good examples.
So where has this led me? It is traditional in Norway to put out sheafs of corn for the birds for Christmas. The Yellowhammers seems to be very interested in this food source and flock to the sheafs. This year, we have the corn hanging in a Beech tree, so I had both botanical subjects with the birds. Additionally, I always loved the use of graphite and didn’t start using colour in my artwork until my mid-twenties. So this picture is a combination of glowing colour for the birds and graphite for the botanical detail.
To confirm which is which in this Yellowhammer pair, the female is the more motley colour on the left. I do enjoy painting her more. The Male in striking yellow is on the right. He is very gentlemanly and making sure she is feeding un-molested. All is painted actual size. The finished painting is 52 x 37 cm. Enjoy!
Last snow 5 weeks ago in April and rockery todayin May
We had a very long cold and snowy winter from 31 October 2023 until the last lot fell on 5th April 2024. In fact, the locals don’t remember so much so near to the Oslo fjord. At one point we had about 2 metres of it and one day we were unable to open any of our doors to get outside. In the end I pushed the kitchen door open a few cm and then used the shovel from a fireside-set to gradually dig my way out.
Of course we had no idea that we would have so much snow and had put wire fences round the apple trees and plants to prevent the deer chewing in the winter. Little did we know that the snow would come well above the fences and there were periods when the deer were really hungry and were able to reach up to the juicy bits on top of the trees!!
I don’t want to bore you with pictures of snow, but have put this little group together:
Can’t get to my skis!Me digging a path on the terrace.Poor red squirrel grovelling for seeds at the base of the bird feeder.Red sky at night. Amazing colours!Snow angel on New Year’s EveLooking out of the terrace door. The snow has packed agains the glass!!
We thought the winter would never end; I couldn’t even access plants to paint. Then suddenly summer arrived. The snow and ice melted over a couple of weeks, the snowdrops started flowering on the edge of the melting snow. This was quite funny to see because as the snow receded, the white flowers emerged. We thought that the ones first flowering would be over by the time the snow actually went, but each patch lasted quite a while.
The next was looking for some green to appear. Every year the grass is brown in the spring and it looks very dead, but after only a few days it starts turning green. Our house looks out over a valley so we can watch as a haze of green tips appear on the trees – until Pang, the world looks as though it has always looked luscious.
This is how the world looks for us now, just a few weeks later:
Apple treesOf course too many dandelionsMini Rhododendron floweringOur loyal red squirrelLooking at tulips in the front garden AND the Oslo Fjord in the distanceLooking out over OSLO when celebrating our national day on 17th May
What an amazing world this is!
We sat on the kitchen terrace early today and ate out breakfast in the hot sun. The same terrace where I had to use my fireside set to shovel the snow away. Looking across the valley we commented on how the trees have attained the green of leaves having been there quite a while. Even the oak leaves were fully open.
As a botanical artist, this shows how important it is to think about the availability of subjects at different times of the year. I will show a little of what I did during this last winter.
During last autumn we had some family visits and showed them parts of our beautiful Norway including an old fort that was used to protect us from the Swedes!! We took the ferry across the Oslo fjord and visited Old Fredrikstad. It is a lovely place to visit and the star shaped ramparts have lots of Oak trees. This meant that in the Autumn there were lots of conkers which I duly collected.
I had some thoughts about wanting to use both graphite and watercolour. In the end, I used everything that came to hand including water soluble graphite, colour pencil and watercolour. I had taken loads of photos of my conker collection, and from this did a line drawing. Of course as the weeks passed the conkers dried, but with the aid of my photos I was able to paint from the conkers in their changing state.
Also as a botanical artist I continue to learn and try to improve. With the picture of Conkers, I was reasonably happy but still wanted to explore new ways of working with graphite. I have always loved using graphite and sections are often found in my pictures.
Whilst in the Netherlands in April I was able to get more graphite. My favourite pencils are Caran d’Ache Grafwood, but with the final picture above, I was trying to reduce the risk of shiny graphite in the areas I wanted to get really dark. How to do that?! I often use water on top of the graphite to set it, but it didn’t quite work here, although I added water soluble graphite on. top.
Faber Castell have introduced som Pitt Graphite Matt, which gets rid of most of the shine. I used a combination of the Grafwood and Pitt Graphite Matt in my next picture, but also used graphite powder. If I want it really black and matt, I have also bought powdered carbon, but so far that is just a little too dark.
A plant that has always fascinated me in Norway is the Tussilago farfara – Coltsfoot. I mentioned the Snowdrop appearing from the edge of the snow as it melts, well another plant is the Coltsfoot. It is considered to be the first flower that appears after the snow goes. Along the roadside, the mucky snow melts away leaving dots of yellow here and there. An incredible little flower, but as it seeds like dandelion I don’t think it is appreciated everywhere.
I wanted to show it emerging from the dark winter:
The picture above is taken the day after my previous blog, at 08:00. By that time it had been snowing heavily since 21:00 the night before and my husband had to clear a track for the car to drive out onto the uncleared road as well as brush the snow off the car. The snow continued to cover the ground as he was clearing it!
50 years ago I saw snow at the beginning of October which lasted until April the following year; but then I was living in the mountains. That was extremely early, but although it is the end of October this is early too. By the way it came down heavily with a north wind behind it for nearly 24 hours. This blog is mostly pictures showing very unusual conditions; we live about 4 km from the sea!
But when there is a lot of snow, there are also a lot of birds feeding in the back garden. Notice the lovely autumn colour leaves still on the trees. These two pictures were taken about lunch time yesterday and it was still snowing.
I spent yesterday trying out my last colour pencil drawing on black paper. I’m not 100% sure that I like it, but it was fairly quick – it only took about 8 hours. It would have taken me several days on white paper as I have to make sure that the pigment fills the texture in the paper. In this case I allowed the black paper to create the shadows. Comments are welcome😊. It is another November cactus.
Before I show you today’s photos of the snow, I’ll tell you about an experience I had earlier today.
In my previous life in Norway I was a nurse and always felt I was looked after in my working environment and that patients were generally treated very well. Robin had an experience a few years ago when we were on holiday here; it convinced him that my ‘boasting’ rang true.
This morning I had an appointment at our county hospital. Just before going in I got a text message with a link to use once I arrived; I duly followed the instructions for registering my arrival. I was a little early, but went up to the floor where my appointment was, to be met by a young lady who showed me a screen telling me that I was registered. This was done with an allotted number so my name was not displayed. I was then able to go to the restaurent for a cup of coffee and fresh waffle (Hope Robin doesn’t see this as he loves waffles)and I understood a text message would tell me both when I needed to return to the waiting area and then in which room I would be seen when they were ready for me – there were no delays! I was extremely impressed.
I expect somebody will now tell me this is common practice everywhere!!
Travelling into Tønsberg where the hospital is was a a really lovely drive. Unusually the beautiful autumn leaves are still on the trees and the colours against the snow were fantastic. Additionally, as I was travelling southwards the tree trunks were caked in snow facing north, so the contrasts were amazing. Of course all this made me think of who I could tell about all that I was seeing – of course a blog!
Another view from outside the front of our home. The trees are a Cherry still boasting a few leaves, the Acer and Rose complete with leaves. They ploughed the road yesterday evening, but it’s still not gritted. Salt is rarely used on the side roads.
Below are plants in the garden still flowering. The lettuce is completely buried.
Japanese anemone ‘ Fantasy Red Riding Hood’Echinaceae ‘ Delicious candy’Hydrangea SkyfallHydrangea paniculate Sundae FraiseHydrangea paniculate Sundae FraiseEchinaceae ‘ Sunseekers Magenta’
When the above picture was taken I had absorbed the judges feedback from a few hours earlier.
I had travelled from Norway the night before the exhibition and as soon as the plane landed I was able to access my emails. One of them was from the RHS telling me the results of the judging – a Silver Gilt award.
Before being invited to exhibit with the RHS one has to have ones work assessed by a panel of judges. The work, several pictures, needs to be of a consistent silver medal level.
If one is awarded a medal at the exhibition (this is not guaranteed), it is one of four in this order of merit:
Gold
Silver Gilt
Silver
Bronze
I, like everyone before me, hoped that my work was worthy of a Gold medal. It was not to be this time.
But having not got a Gold I can happily comment that this prestigious exhibition is international and the best artists from around the globe take part hoping to win this coveted award.
Arriving at the Saatchi Gallery on the morning of the preview.
I don’t have photos from the morning or afternoon sessions at the Saatchi gallery, but I was kindly and quickly nabbed as I arrived before lunch by someone who had taken the time to study my exhibit and wanted to understand my award. I was glad of this as it helped prepare me for my feedback due in the afternoon as the assumptions were correct.
Well what about the feedback?
Luckily I was well prepared.
I was extremely lucky as I was afraid that the judge(s) might not know my subjects. This was not the case as the judge given the task of my feedback had studied one of the species and had ‘gorged’ on most of the others! Apparently, my paintings were so convincing as to want to pick and eat them!
Therefore, it wasn’t the technical skills or quality of painting that was an issue.
Botanically, I was told that there were no holes in this area and they liked my use of graphite.
Young bilberry leaf
One of the judges had queried the nature of my Bilberry leaves as they thought them a little ‘wavy’. I commented that particularly young leaves are quite thin and often the edges were of a rather wavy nature.
Another query had been why I had chosen to paint on vellum rather than paper. I was readily able to say that the colours of the tiny fruit in the mountains are so intense that the way colours are reflected off vellum truly justifies that choice of support.
However, it seems that the issues the judges had with my pictures were my scale bars – again. It was my scale bars that were the issue in my last exhibit in 2014. But this time it was slightly different. Apparently, it was felt I had too many of them and that they had a tendency to dominate the picture making them intrusive.
I was told that the ‘judges decision was not unanimous and that there was gold in there’.
The judge who gave me the feedback felt that with the present exhibit format I was rather ‘hamstrung’. To explain that a little better, this was only in the way I had planned by exhibit without knowledge of the labelling restrictions now in place. I don’t know if I had missed some information sent out previously from the RHS, but as my exhibit took six years to prepare, plan and paint, things have changed as one would expect.
The way an exhibit is hung including the information given about each picture is the ultimate responsibility of the artist. This includes scientific names and common names used and their spelling. Previously, labelling included information about the species referring to parts on the picture. i.e. dissections were described in the legend and there might be additional information of interest. As such I wouldn’t have needed so many scale bars on each picture.
But now there was one overall description of the exhibit with the limitation of 100 words, plus an individual label giving the plant name.
Rubus chamaemorus – Cloudberry
If one is looking at scale bars as a negative, this picture was probably the worst one!! I had three different sizes on the picture; the actual size of the plant to the right, the berry, dissection of the berry and whole flowers were the same enlargement and the dissections of the male and female flowers were enlarged further. Unless this distinction is made, no-one would actually understand that they were different sizes.
As it was, there was nowhere to inform that this fantastic species had separate male and female plants, therefore it also had separate male and female flowers! Furthermore, I was unable to show that the plant grew well in boggy areas.
The name of my exhibit included the phrase ‘ from bog to sand’. There was no indication in the exhibit that the six species grew in either sand or boggy areas and there was no room made to do so either.
Although my scale bars got in the way of the judging process, I was told that each of the pictures were valuable pieces of documentation.
How do I feel about this experience?
I have to say that overall it was fantastic. It wasn’t the same as previously where there was a special relationship between the exhibiting artists who put up their own exhibits – keeping their fingers and toes crossed that nothing would fall down. But it was different. We still developed good relationships as we were all in the same boat and just as unsure about ourselves and our work as we would ever be.
Thinking only of the exhibition and the run up to it, it seemed so well planned and disciplined. There was proper project management and information from the artists was needed in a timely fashion. We weren’t left in the dark about anything. What the RHS and the Saatchi Gallery wanted from us was clearly explained and they did their best to give us what we needed within the boundaries they had set. As an example, except for my pictures, all were on watercolour paper and needed to be framed with a mount. Right from the beginning I had asked for mine to be mounted behind perspex so that the whole vellum mounted block was visible. They did an absolutely beautiful job of this and for me this aspect of the exhibit was perfect.
The feedback from the judges was carried out in a sympathetic way. We were seated in front of our exhibit during this process and as far as I am aware no-one else was in the same gallery at the same time.
The preview was also done very well with speeches and the delivery of special awards.
Will I do this again?
Absolutely! But although I love tiny plants and dissections to discover the hidden life of the plant, I might actually keep it a little simpler next time!
Chatting with Diane Sutherland – my son absorbed in my paintingsAsuka Hishiki – JapanThe award ceremony – Paul Foster (Saatchi Gallery), Keith Weed (RHS), Charlotte Brooks (Lindley Library)Eunice Nugroho – IndonesiaGreat discussionsChatting with Julia TrickeyKeahyung Lee – KoreaSo good to see old friends again!Youngran Choi – KoreaYungin Park – UKEnd of a long and fruitful day
If you have seen the exhibition, do let me know what you think of it. And, If you have any queries about my previous blogs on the series of paintings or about my experience, also get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.
The title of my exhibit at the “RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show” is as above:
Foraging Plants in the Norwegian Mountains – From Bog to Sand.
Six of my watercolour and graphite paintings are exhibited by order of habitat starting with those growing in the wettest environment to those in the dryest. Seven paintings were completed not just the six, therefore it was a difficult choice to remove one of them. The second one shown below, the small cranberry, is not in the exhibition.
1. Rubus chamaemorus – Cloudberry – Multe Watercolour & graphite on vellum. August 2022
1) Habit 2) Male flower – 2a) LS Male flower 3) Female flower – 3a) LS Female flower 4) Fruit 4a) TS fruit 4b) LS fruit
2. Vaccinium oxycoccus subsp. microcarpum – Small cranberry – Små tranebær Watercolour & graphite on vellum. January 2022
1). Habit 2). Flower 3). TS fruit 3a) LS Fruit 3b) Fruit
3. Vaccinium uliginosum – Bog bilberry – Skinntryte Watercolour & graphite on vellum. December 2021
1) Habit 2) Flower pair 3) Fruit 3a) TS fruit 3b) LS fruit
4. Empetrum nigrum subsp. hermaphroditum Mountain Crowberry – Krekling Watercolour & graphite on vellum. January 2022
1). Habit 2). Flower 3). TS fruit 3a) LS Fruit 3b) Fruit
5. Vaccinium myrtillus – Bilberry – Blåbær Watercolour & graphite on vellum. March 2022
1) Habit 2) Flower 3) Immature fruit 4) Fruit 4a) TS fruit 4b) LS fruit
6. Vaccinium vitis-idaea – Cowberry/Lingonberry -Tyttebær Watercolour & graphite on vellum. November 2022
1) Habit 2) Flower cluster 3) Fruit 3a) TS fruit 3b) LS fruit
7. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi – Bearberry – Melbær Watercolour & graphite on vellum. October 2022
1) Habit 2) Flower cluster 3) Fruit cluster 4) Single fruit 4a) TS immature fruit 4b) LS ripe fruit
If you have read the blog series you will understand that the Cloudberry and Small cranberry enjoy the wettest environment – bogs and marshes, whilst the Bearberry is often found on a sandy forest floor. The other species are found in various types of environment from damp woods to harsh mountain tops. Some, like the Bog bilberry will grow very well just about anywhere as long as it has water and plenty of sun.
All of the plants in this series live in the Subarctic part of the world and have always provided a lot of nourishment for those living in the far north, the rest of us a little further south and of course animals that roam the area.
Some of the plants typically don’t grow in certain areas as witnessed by the difficulty I had finding the Bearberry. In very hot and dry years some plants produce next to nothing; Cloudberry and Small Cranberry are good examples. Can you imagine the risk that Global warming brings to these plants as well as to us. The warmer the planet gets, the more further north these plants are likely to move making it even harder for us and the animals they support, to find them. As it is, plants that can normally be found further south in Europe, are now beginning to appear in Norway; their pollinators moving with them and having a negative effect on the species that belong.
When choosing to study and paint these plants I didn’t realise how much I would learn about them. I loved the plants (and their fruit) before this, but now have so much respect for them and the environment in which they grow. I hope that I have been able to pass on at least a smidgen of this.
Thank you for following this series.
Latest news: I am really pleased to say that following the judging process yesterday, 14 June 2023, the judges decided to honour me with a Silver Gilt medal. The award ceremony will be held this evening at the Saatchi Gallery during the preview to the exhibition opening tomorrow.
I look forward to getting detailed feedback about my exhibit from the judges this afternoon.
Depending upon where one lives and picks fruit in Norway, some people are not aware of the bearberry and its identification problems. In fact, initially I had real problems finding an example of the bearberry to draw from.
The first find of the Bearberry plant in 2017
Many years ago I had experienced the misfortune of mixing up the two berries and knew that they could grow in similar locations. But to begin with I didn’t find any near the cottage we had rented. We therefore went on a field trip in the car and drove to an area where I knew they had grown 50 years before. Unfortunately, things had changed, and we found houses instead!
Eventually, in the next valley, we found both bearberry and lingonberry growing together on a sandy forest floor.
The following year in 2018 my poor husband enjoyed a solo 200km return journey to get a sample for me! Fortunately I was using GPS to record the position of every specimen found and he used this to find the forest area.
It was with relief that in 2019 we eventually found some growing very well, close to the main road below our rented cottage up in the mountains. Now I could truly say that all of the plants were from the same area!
Bearberry sketch from my ‘perpetual diary’
I did quite a few different sketches of this plant and like so many of the plants in this series, found that it often starts setting its buds in the autumn in preparation for the following season.
I therefore decided to wait until the following year to try and get an immature fruit. As it happens, I had to wait four years until I could get a sample at the right level of maturity. But at least I managed it and got some good detail.
Bearberry sketchbook page. As usual a lot of research found space along the bottom of the page.
But I think one of the biggest headaches when collecting information was doing a transverse section (TS) of the fruit. The fruit contains relatively large hard seeds, as it is a stone fruit. Carrying out a LS on a ripe fruit was simple as I had no need to cut through any seeds.
But the TS was another kettle of fish! Each seed was about 2.3 mm long and very hard. There was no way I could cut through this without crushing the whole fruit and destroying the chance to draw this section as I had for every other picture.
My trial piece on vellum helped me with my colour decisions for the final artwork. I started the sketches in 2017 and in June 2022 I started the final piece, finishing it in October 2022.
A squashed TS!
Bearberry trial piece on vellum
Main branch outlined from sample branch
Main branch almost complete. x 2 natural size.
Graphite tracing for natural size branch
Graphite shading
Graphite and wash
Graphite and wash section complete.
The native range of this species is Subarctic to N., W. & Central U.S.A. including the UK and Norway. It is a subshrub and grows primarily in the temperate biome.
Source: Kew – Plants of the World Online
The photos above are a quick reminder of my process for this series. The various elements are traced to the vellum block and sometimes I go over these with a non-permanent watercolour outline. The main branch has generally been completed at twice the natural size and the sections in graphite or graphite and watercolour wash are normally natural size to show habit. Graphite is used to allow these sections to fall into the background making the overall picture less heavy.
Bearberry leaf tea infusion
Pour 150ml of boiling water over 2.5g of finely chopped or coarsely powdered, fresh or dried bearberry leaves and strain after 10 to 15 minutes. If you want to keep the content of tannins as low as possible, prepare a cold-water maceration. To do this leave the leaves in the cold water for 6 to 12 hours, then strain and heat the tea.
Uses
Inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract – NOT KIDNEY problems – “if treatment with antibiotics is not necessary.” Bearberry leaf infusion is classified as traditional herbal medicinal. Based on many years of experience, bearberry leaves can be used to treat symptoms of recurrent cystitis (e.g. burning sensation during urination and/or frequent urination in women), if there are more serious causes or symptoms remain, seek medical attention.
Tea infusion: drink a warm cup of bearberry leaf tea up to 4 times a day;
Put the berries in a pot and cook over medium heat until soft; about 5-10 minutes. Crush the berries, then run them through a sieve or cheesecloth to remove the seeds. Retain as much of the pulp as possible.
Return the juice and pulp to the pot, adding one cup of sugar for every cup of juice and pulp. Add the lemon juice, mix thoroughly, and heat to a boil.
Boil for a minute or two, then stir in the pectin. Allow the preserves to cool and set.
My last blog about this series of pictures is scheduled for 15 June 2023. It is the day we get the results of the RHS judging, so I hope to include my result. I will show the final pictures which I have been keen to conceal until the judging process is complete.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi or the common English name of bearberry and norwegian name of melbær.
The Norwegian name, when translated, literally and aptly describes the melbær, flour-berry. The berries are edible, dry, tasteless, and floury. But they are considered an important ‘survival food’ and eaten in sauces by some northern indigenous people with fish, venison, elk and bear.
When describing another plant in this series, Vaccinium vitis-idaea (cowberry/lingonberry), I mentioned that these two plants were the main reason that I wanted to do research and illustrate this series of plants. I wanted to show how they can be distinguished so that both can be used and enjoyed. Getting things wrong – mistaking one fruit for the other – is not dangerous, but it can spoil the effect of a recipe intended for Lingonberries.
Both plants have leathery leaves as well as similar fruit and flowers and although they can grow in the same habitat, the bearberry does better in drier surroundings. In the last blog I showed the back of the Lingonberry leaf which is more oval-shaped, but now I will show you the back of the bearberry leaf which is paddle-shaped.
The photo of the Bearberry leaf was taken in September when the tiny flower buds start to appear – establishing themselves before the snow appears so they can make an early start as soon as it is gone.
To the left is the ‘veiny’ Bearberry leaf and to the right the ‘dotty’ Lingonberry leaf
As you see, the Vaccinium vitis-ideae – lingonberry leaf has small dots on the underside, whereas the bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi leaf has a fine network of veins.
The bearberry is not a member of the Vaccinium Genus, but is part of the Arctostaphylos Genus. However they are both part of the Ericaceae (heather) family. This means that in both species the flowers are typically heather-like, although the bearberry flowers are more urn-shaped and the lingonberry flower is bell-like .
Bearberry urn-shaped flowers to the left and Lingonberry bell-shaped flowers to the right
Longitudinal section of Bearberry flower
The rhizomes of the bearberry lie prostrate down rock walls or across the sandy forest floor, whereas those of the lingonberry sit deeper in the humus.
Both plants have clusters of red fruit, but the Bearberry fruit has a slightly flatter spherical form than that of the Lingonberry. Most importantly the Bearberry has a superior ovary (the gynoecium – [female reproductive part] is above the attachment point of the floral whorls [petals etc]), meaning that the remaining sepals are at the top of the hanging fruit, nearest the pedicel (stalk). The opposite is true of the Lingonberry where the remains of the sepals are at the bottom of the hanging fruit, distal to the pedicel.
This is a photo of the longitudinal section (LS) of one flower. It clearly shows that it has a superior ovary.
To the left, Bearberry fruit with sepal remnants near pedicel. To the right, Lingonberry fruit with Sepal remnants distal to pedicel.
The second blog about the Bearberry species is scheduled for 11 June 2023. That will be the last blog about the series, although I will show the completed pictures on 15th June.
Vaccinium vitis idea – Lingonberry plantsin dry moss.
The reason for even thinking of doing a series of plants like this was because of this plant – Vaccinium vitis idaea (Lingonberry/Cowberry) and the next plant in this blog series Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry). They are fairly similar and their habitats cross over into each other’s. So unless you know what you are looking for you can easily make a mistake.
Lingonberry leaf back.
It isn’t a ‘dangerous’ mistake to make, but it can spoil a recipe!
Above is a photo of the Lingonberry in its typical habitat. Both species have leathery leaves as well as similar flowers and fruit. But the Bearberry prefers even drier surroundings than the Lingonberry.
The Lingonberry leaves are oval as you see above, whereas the Bearberry leaves are paddle-shaped; The Lingonberry leaves have small dots on the underside, whereas the Bearberry leaves are finely veined; Both sets of flowers are typically Heather-like, but the Lingonberry flower is bell-shaped and the Bearberry flowers are more urn-shaped. The rhizomes of the Lingonberry sit deeper in the humus than the Bearberry, which are prostrate and limply creep across a surface.
The fruit for both plants are in clusters, but the Bearberry fruit has a slightly flatter spherical shape than that of the Lingonberry. Most importantly the Lingonberry has an inferior ovary (the flower parts arise above the ovary), meaning that the remains of the sepals are at the bottom of the hanging fruit, distal to the pedicel (stalk). The opposite is true of the Bearberry where the calyx (sepals) remain on the fruit around the pedicel.
Fruit developing. Petals fallen off to reveal shape of distal end of fruit formed with sepals.
If you look at the painted berry at the beginning of the last blog when I started discussing the species, you can see the remnants of the sepals. Compare it with these three pictures showing the development of the flower and swelling of the ovary in its inferior position.
At the end of the previous blog I showed you some of the sketches I did from various Lingonberry plants. Here you see additional ones and you may notice that they were part of the basis for my final artwork.
Below you see my first compositional plan for the Lingonberry picture, but I didn’t really like it. I suppose in this plan I wanted to avoid painting so many small, but detailed leaves. As you now know they have several diagnostic elements to them, but at the same time are quite shiny. The composition just didn’t give me the right ‘feeling’ of the plant.
One weekend I had been out picking fruit with my daughter and we were discussing the way the plants grew and the impression they gave. We again looked at my planned composition and she suggested I replace the flower on the stem with a fruit cluster.
That was the answer – the series emphasis was about the fruit. I decided to do a trial on vellum of the new piece of stem with the berries and this became the basis for the final composition.
My first sketches of this plant were done in March 2017, but I didn’t start painting the final picture until October 2022 (after harvesting), finishing December 2022. Because this plant is not deciduous, it allowed me to work on the leaves right up until the first fall of snow.
The native range of this species is Subarctic & Temp. Northern Hemisphere including the UK and Norway. It is a subshrub and grows primarily in the temperate biome.
Source: Kew – Plants if the World Online
The species in my next blog scheduled for 8 June 2023 is the Bearberry, favoured by bears when they wake up from their hibernation – or so I am told.
Eva’s Raw LingonberryJam
300g Lignonberries
100gm sugar
Blend together the berries and the sugar until berries well macerated. If possible let it stand for few hours in the fridge before being used.
Eva Biringvad gave me this recipe and sent me on a ‘no-return’ journey. Her father made the most delicious bread, so we ate chunks of his bread with sour cream and the raw lingonberry on top. Delicious!
This is also used with meals instead of Cranberry sauce – and it is much nicer.
Ripe Lingonberry ready for picking with Bilberry plants already done and dusted.
Distal view of ripe fruit – inferior ovary
Vaccinium vitis-idaea, or cowberry, the common english name and tyttebær the Norwegian name is more commonly known as lingonberry if you visit Ikea. It forms the sharpish berry sauce you get with your meatballs!
In fact, there are several ways you can eat the fruit and one of the recipes I will be sharing with you is one where the raw fruit is whipped with sugar – it is absolutely delicious – especially on lovely bread with sour cream!! A friend introduced me to this bad/delicious habit, but I have learnt to restrict myself!
I am glad that we picked quite a bit of fruit this last year and it is safely kept cleaned and ready for use in the freezer. Like the Bilberry, I use it in all sorts of recipes, sometimes even together.
Many will think that the Lingonberry is similar to the small cranberry and in many respects it is. They are both Vacciniums, similar in size; 5- 8mm, but the lingonberry is almost completely spherical whilst the cranberry has a very slightly elongated spherical shape.
CranberryLingonberry
Because the Lingonberry and Cranberry prefer completely different habitats, there is little risk of picking from the two species at the same time. But, both can be used in the same way and for similar recipes.
The Lingonberry is generally found on heathland and shrubby areas, but as discussed in my blog released 7 May, the Small cranberry grows in very boggy areas covered with sphagnum moss.
The next two picture were taken late September at 1100 metres over sea level. The red berries are
Veggli, Numedal, at 1100metres over the seaMix of several species in this series at 1100 m.
the Lingonberry and you can see that as they hang in bunches they are easy enough to pick. Unlike the bilberry (the red/yellow leaves), the fruit is pretty solid and bullet-like making them even easier to pick that that species. In the same picture is the Mountain Crowberry with their black berries, heather and some very short birch.
We are lucky enough to have some Lingonberry also growing in our garden, but in the two years we have been here I haven’t seen any fruit. Possibly this is because the plants are in shade and it has been very dry since we have been here, and our house is on rock. Therefore, with climate change even the native plants suffer. There is more fruit as one walks from our house into the protection of the woods. Often it grows on the top of extinct anthills, indicating how the seeds were transported.
The Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Cowberry) and the Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ( Bearberry) are, in fact, the main reason that I thought to do this series of plants. I have already written about the similarity between the Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry ) and the Vaccinium uliginosum (Bog bilberry), and in that case mixing the one with the other won’t spoil a recipe. But because the Cowberry and Bearberry are so similar, mistakes can be made and although both edible, Bearberry is dry and tasteless and has large stones rather than small seeds.
I will talk about the Bearberry as the last plant in this series. But the second section about the Lingonberry is scheduled for 6 June 2023.
GAYNOR'S FLORA 