Rose hips are full of vitamin C and are a great addition to jams and jellies. Just three of them contain as much antiscorbutic as an orange. Currant berries high in vitamin C, can be eaten raw, cooked dried and preserved as jellies and jams. With high concentraions of flavonoids and tannins in the leaves and roots, the early Europeans relied on blackberry for similar ailments as did the indigenous people.

Mountain Laurel: Commonly known as bog laurel this shrub is a perennial evergreen. The flowers are bee-pollinated. Touch one of the bent filaments with a pine needle, and the anther snaps out of the pouch, releasing the pollen. As medicine, many indigenous tribes made a decoction of the leaves as a topical wash for open sores and wounds. This particular plant specimen was found growing over 12,000 feet at Gem Lake in the high Sierra.

SICKLE FERN: The Sickle Fern Pellaea falcata is a drought tolerant and hardy plant native to India and Australia. Pellaea falcata can survive twenty to twenty- five degree winters and go ten to twenty days without water. The name comes from the curved or sickle shaped falcate leaflets. Ornamental Features: Sickle Fern’s glossy ferny pinnately compound leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

STICKY MONKEY FLOWER: Mimulus aurantiacus The Miwok and Pomo Native Americans used mimulus flowers and roots to treat a number of ailments. However, the plant was particularly useful for its antiseptic qualities as it expedited the healing of minor scrapes and burns. Today, sticky monkey flower is sold as a medicinal remedy. There are well over one hundred species of mimulus world wide, sixty of which are native to California. According to several sources, edible plant parts are found in various species.

BLACK SAGE – Salvia mellifera Lamiaceae (or mint family) is a fragrant three to six foot high perennial shrub. Black Sage is very common of dry slopes and benches to 2000’ in coastal and open chaparral habitats on the coast of central and southern California. It forms dense thickets and blooms from April to July. Nectar-gathering bees utilize this plant in the production of honey.

Kelp: All varieties are edible. Ethnic people have been using seaweeds or their extracts for thousands of years. The Chinese have used seaweeds for both medicine and food since before 2000 BC (Xia and Abbott, 1987). The ribbon or giant kelp is a striking seaweed in the ocean from Alaska to California. The small lateral fronds are edible. As gathered their flavor improves with drying.

Visit My Etsy Store

Museum quality giclée prints, hand painted tiles, and fine art note cards.

Welcome to Claudia Stevens’ on-line botanical garden. This website is a growing portfolio of west coast native and world-wide plant species. Museum quality giclée prints, hand-painted tiles and fine art note cards can be purchased directly from Claudia. Book links are also available that include Claudia’s illustrations and can be viewed from the books and editorials page.

In the art of traditional botanical painting, each flower is painted from real life plant specimens: with the purpose of documenting exotics, natives, rare, and endangered plant species, while increasing public awareness of the importance to respect and to save our biotic resources.

To purchase prints and cards, please select the images that interest you from our gallery or portfolio pages and then visit our how to purchase page. Giclée prints, hand painted tiles or fine art note cards are available year-around listed on the gallery or portfolio pages. You may purchase art directly at her Studio.  Link to my Etsy Store

U.S. Mail: For upcoming shows and events, please join Claudia’s growing mailing list.  To receive a postcard, send an email and include your name and postal mailing address to join the list. We take privacy and security of personal information very seriously.  We will never give your information to any other third party.