Description

Desert Dessert
Desert Rosemallow
Santa Catalina Mountains, AZ
Bloomed April 19, 2023 Noon
12×16 oil on canvas

When you are walking in the desert, do you ever wonder who might have walked along the same path in the past?

Hibiscus Coulteri was named for Irish Botanist Dr. Thomas Coulter, reportedly the first botanist to collect in Arizona. Coulteri earned a medical degree in Dublin and studied botany in Geneva. In 1832 he travelled to Mexico to be a physician for the Real de Monet Mining company, and began studying and collecting on a journey “from Monterey to the Colorado River.” It is said his collection contained over 50,000 species, representing between 1500 and 200 species. He founded the herbarium at Trinity College, Dublin.

On the other hand, I hiked, swam in a waterfall, took hundreds of photos in the beautiful Catalina foothills of Tucson, then painted this beautiful flower. To me it looked like two cups of lemon sherbert.
I think Dr. Coulteri would approve.