The amazon has always had an aura of mystery. Amazon... The world's largest forest! The difference in most people that she acted when she had the opportunity. There are too many people who have dreams and they do nothing about it. Why? The lack of adventure spirit.. The biologist Gilberto Castro tell us about her eagerly with these words. Personally, l always felt immense admiration to British explorers thus, l wanted to write about botanical artist Margeret Mee today.
She was highly passioned with tropical plants and she used her talent in illustration to add new species to bothany world and taxonomy. After completing her education on art and craft, she moved to Brazil and participated San Paulo's Instituto Botanica in 1958. During her career as lecturer in faculty, she realised many excurtions to deep forest of Amazon, she worked with local trace hunters and villagers.
One of her mayor discovery was on the most rare species of Amazon, Selenicereus Witti, a semi-epiphyte climbing cactus, which blooms in an only one night of the year. She followed the seasonal cycle of this "Dennise and the Melace plant", observed the blooming habit during the nights alone in a savage forest.
She was fastinated, vivid and brave british lady. One of her local friend tells that she rejected when he called her to sleep in hub and wait the rain falls;
- No, no.. go to your hubs and sleep there. I can stay here alone. I've even slept with jaguar!
She stayed in Brazil over 36 years. During the period, she opened more than 15 exhibitions. Her drawings have archived in Kew gardens, London. Each year, Margaret Mee Fellowship Program provied a scholarship to researches who works in Brazil. She is inspirational, I wish I can walk on forest ground one day and feel her legacy in Amazon. :)
references;
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mee
- http://www.kew.org/science/tropamerica/Meeprogramme.htm
- https://vimeo.com/26588723
