Commicarpus pedunculosus (Nyctaginaceae)

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Downing Street

This drawing is part of forty illustrations produced by Hugo Haig-Thomas for J. I. Wood’s A Handbook of the Yemen Flora, published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1997. Haig-Thomas drew these, from life, during his post as a diplomat in Yemen. None of these specimens had ever been illustrated before, and the majority are unknown outside of southwest Arabia. They contribute a vital visual component to Wood’s account of the plants occurring in North Yemen, the former Yemen Arab Republic before its union with the south. Selected amongst the 1750 species of fern and flowering plants, which grow in this region, they offer a window onto the country with the highest rainfall and most varied landscapes in the Arabian Peninsula.

Bridging the traditions of botanical illustration and art, Haig-Thomas’ drawings present scientifically accurate flora whilst emphasising their aesthetically pleasing qualities.  

Places

Subjects

leaf, flower

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), watercolour (as object name)

Artist

Hugo Haig-Thomas (1947 - )

Title

Commicarpus pedunculosus (Nyctaginaceae)

Date

1977-1979

Medium

Watercolour on paper

Dimensions

height: 21.00 cm, width: 29.70 cm

Acquisition

Presented by the artist, April 2014

Inscription

lower left: HHT ; top right: 17 / [arrow] / 2 ; verso, bottom left: COMMICARPUS PEDUNCULOSUS

Provenance

Presented by the artist, April 2014

GAC number

18593/2