gallusrostromegalus:

botanyshitposts:

artists who draw botanical and lichenological illustrations are stronger than any us marine

#this is specifically about lichens and mosses but applies to all plants honestly

Informal Ranked Difficulty of Botanical* Illustration subjects:

Entry Level:  Fruits and vegetables you can regularly buy at the grocery store, plants that are typical of thier type, A Single Bloom And Two Leaves ™, 

Intermediate: Uncommon and complex fruits and vegetables, Orchids that you weren’t gonna show to anyone who actually knows about orchids, plants typical of an uncommon type,  Basic seed-to-furiting life cycle of common crops.

Hard Mode: The Whole Plant And Notable Features ™, Anything that involves miscroscopy, diseased or dead specimens, reconstructing from the paper’s notes and the one really sad dead specimen they sent along, Mushrooms.

Masterclass: Whole-ass Tree, Orchids you show actual Orchid People, In-depth analysis of common grocery store crops, Carnivorous Plants, flowers that are really sixty bajillion teeny flowers at once, grasses.

Actual Witchcraft: LICHENS, nonvascular plants, fungi that are not mushrooms, multi-species interactions, plants that are actually illegal, POLLEN, extinct plants.

DEALS WERE MADE WITH UNHOLY POWERS OF DARKNESS IN ORDER TO RENDER THESE RIGHT: Seaweeds and Algae.

*Fungi lived right there too so they’re invited to the party.