“Lila”

(JC Vines)

Watercolor on Paper

Maia Enriquez, 2021

Part 2 of “Of Arts and Wine: Para Sa Kalikasan” Philippine-Malaysia Botanical Art Exhibition is now open until October 23, 2021. Visit Conrad Gallery C or philbas.org to see amazing botanical illustrations of endemic and indigenous Philippine flora species.

My artwork is of the JC Vine, a whimsical lilac-colored flower endemic to Luzon Island.

Strongylodon juangonzalezzi Hadsall, Alejado & Cajano, was discovered in Mulanay, Quezon in 2016 by professors Annalee S. Hadsall, Michelle D.R. Alejado, Ariel R. Larona, and Ivy Amor F. Lambio.

It’s a new species of Strongylodon remarkable for its plagiotropic dense inflorescence with 27-31 flowers per cluster in a lateral branch.These idyllic flowers are lilac when young (hence the title of the artwork) and turn blue when mature.

The vine is named after Dr. Juan Carlos Tecson Gonzalez (Sir JC), the director of UPLB-Museum of Natural History in 2016, professor of zoology, one of the Philippines’ ten outstanding young scientists in 2011, and a passionate conservationist and ornithologist.

For more information about the JC vine, please visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5109900/

P.S.

The UPLB-MNH is also celebrating its 45th anniversary!

Learn more about the Philippine biodiversity by following their website: https://mnh.uplb.edu.ph/,

liking their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/UPLBMuseum,

and following them on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/UPLBMuseum.

PARA SA KALIKASAN!