In fine detail

Illustrating 30 plants from the Qur'an was a way for renowned Waiheke botanical artist Sue Wickison to highlight their cultural history.

- BEE DAWSON

'It doesn't matter what creed or religion you are, botanical art crosses all boundaries." 

From a tiny mustard seed to a majestic date palm, from obscure desert plants to well-known culinary staples such as garlic and olives, all are magnificent when painted by acclaimed botanical illustrator Sue Wickison.

In June, the New Zealand artist was the recipient of the 2023 Jill Smythies Award for "outstanding diagnostic illustration in botanical art" by the Linnean Society of London, the world's oldest active society devoted to natural history. It's a remarkable accolade for Wickison and recognises both her history of botanical illustration and her current work illustrating Plants of the Qur'an - History and Culture.

Her Plants of the Qur'an is the completion of an eight-year partnership with senior botanist Shahina A Ghazanfar from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, a mission to illustrate every plant mentioned in the Qur'an. It is the first book to explore and highlight the cultural history of the 30 most-mentioned plants in the holy book of Islam.

The book is particularly timely, as the natural habitats of many plant communities and animals have either changed or are being lost as a result of global climate warming and human settlement. With many species no longer able to survive in their native areas of distribution, it is invaluable to have them depicted, and the book and an accompanying exhibition at Kew Gardens have attracted favourable criticism in publications largely in the Middle East.

For Wickison, the culmination of the project has left her with both an appreciation of the plants she recorded and the chance to observe some of them growing in her own Waiheke Island garden - a surprising number of the plants mentioned grow readily in New Zealand.