Violet Cyanea by Melissa Chimera

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 Chimera