Violet Cyanea
Medium
Oil PaintMaterial
PaintingDescription
Oil on canvas in white frame
30" h x 48" w
Cyanea macrostegia is known formerly from Lāna`i but now found only on Maui. Dark velvet purple-black curved flowers emerge from this rain forest tree. The nectar of these unusual flowers and the orange berries are food for Hawaiian forest birds. These palm-like trees with paddle-shaped leaves are evocative of a pre-historic jungle. The species is now only found in a healthy and diverse rain-forest. Lobelioids are one of the most spectacular examples of island evolution in flowering plants with curved flowers matching the bill of their bird pollinators. - Melissa ChimeraTry it!