Beatrice Häsler – Illustrator, Designer, Pharmacist, and Bookwriter
CALLAWASSIE ISLAND
Today, shortly before my 74th birthday, I look back a good 40 years: At that time, I was working as a graphic designer at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
During my stay there, I got to know the East Coast from Maine to South Carolina. It was a fantastic contrast to the big city and "caged nature" in the Bronx Zoo.
However, I never had the opportunity to study the flora of the southern east coast of the USA with its subtropical elements.
By a happy coincidence I met in summer 1981 George Oetterlii*, a Swiss, who was engaged in covering the small uninhabited Callawassie Island with buildings for sale.
I advised him to leave a part of the island untouched, to make it more attractive for people living on or visiting it. It was now necessary to explore the ecology of the island (before, George had already initated archeological studies) in order to locate the elements worthy of protection. To this end, George engaged also an outstanding expert on the local flora at the University of South Carolina.
In autumn 1981 I flew via Atlanta to Savannah, and then travelled by car on to Hilton Head Island, where I could stay and easily reach the island. Thus, I assisted Cindy (Cynthia A.) Aulbach-Smith, an accomplished field botanist, during her botanical field trips on Callawassie Island**. Finally, I was given the task of writing a preliminary report (courteously linguistically corrected by Pat Bontinen) on the ecological highlights of the island. This report should have been made into a promotional brochure for the island, decorated with the appropriate pictures. But it did not happen: Callawassie came into other hands!
* He was agent of CALLAWASSIE ISLAND REAL ESTATE COMPANY, INC (1981), later of CALLAWASSIE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, INC (1984). The Callawassie Island was bought by Three Fountainview Corporation of Hilton Head Island. As its presiedent he personally and financially assisted the research on the isle as noted in the corresponding scientific publications.
**e.g. Clematis micrantha: SOUTH CAROLINA. Beaufort Co.: very abundant in sunny disturbed areas and road-sides through abandoned fields, central Callawassie Island, 13 Oct 1981, Aulbach-Smith 2036 (USCH). In: SIDA, Contributions to Botany 14/1(1990)64.
THREE GUIDES
So far so good. But there is more! While botanizing, I encountered three striking plants, pictured below, having a strong and lasting impact on my 'Botanical Destiny'.
This caffeinated species is emblematic of my subsequent work: After returning from the United States, I was asked to illustrate some caffeinated species for the Swiss Pharmacy Calendar. For this reason, I knocked on the door of the Institute of Systematic Botany in the Botanical Garden of the UZH. In the so-called collection I was shown museal objects such as cola fruits, which I could use for my work. The job was soon done and I gained more and more pleasure and interest in portraying the fascinating palette of specimens.
In this activity I met my future husband, THE specialist in caffeine-containing plants. His desire to make their systematic position visible resulted in a phylogenetic tree, the caffeine tree, my first drawing of an entire series.
The flower of magnolias fascinated me very much and was the object of many illustrations. Interestingly, these were in great demand and sold quickly, so their documentation remained incomplete. Here is an example that fortunately I still own.
This pantropical species has a range in the U.S. that extends from the southeast (from about 32° north latitude) to Mexico. The species is a perennial herb with a thick, fleshy root from which spring several leafy axils. In tropical Florida and Mexico, the plant develops into a bush or small tree, usually with a single stem.
With the discovery of this species on Callawassie Island, a long-cherished wish was announced, namely the illustration of tropical fruits on site, which could only be realized about 10 years later and finally resulted in the book work TROPENFRUCHT, in which this photo appears on page 93.
RANDENFLORA – Einwanderinnen
Hier handelt es sich um eine Arbeitsskizze. Mich interessierte, woher die Arten stammen, die wir auf unseren Streifzügen auf dem Randen entdecken. Grundlage für die 'geografische Verortung' war das Neujahrsblatt der NGSH 31/1979 von Hans Walter so wie ein Beitrag von René Hantke (1984). Überdies konsultierten wir die neuere Arbeit von Rolf Holderegger und Mitautor:innen (2019), Neujahrsblatt der NGSH 71/2019.
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GLOBAL FLORA
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Phylotree
Hier beziehe ich mich auf das Global-Flora-Projekt: Das Autorenteam publizierte 2018 ein Angiospermen-Poster, auf dem 416 Pflanzenfamilien phylogenetisch positioniert sind, davon 256 mit der Blüte einer zugehörigen Art.
Um meinen eigenen Zugang zu dieser komplexen Materie zu gewinnen, habe ich das Poster in eine Illustration umgewandelt, die sich am Layout meiner Phylotrees orientiert. Ich hoffe, damit einen didaktischen Beitrag zum Thema geleistet zu haben.
Zuerst sei hier eine schwarz-weiss Version (Bleistift) dargestellt. Die Nummern beziehen sich auf das von den Autoren gestaltete PDF, das nun als Buch erhältlich ist.
Wenn auf die Illustration geklickt wird, so erscheint eine annähernd deckungsgleiche, kolorierte Version, auf der einzelne Blüten (=Familien) rot eingekreist sind. Sie leiten uns (durch Anklicken) zu der jeweiligen koffeinhaltigen Gattung. Im Falle der Malvaceae sind es mehrere.
